Over the weekend, Mike Rinder at his blog suggested that recent materials put out by the Church of Scientology seemed to indicate that the Chicago ‘Ideal Org’ — which has long been finished — might be getting its grand opening this Saturday.
We pointed out on Tuesday that a special website had been set up by the org in order to recruit staff for the new cathedral. We showed you a video depicting a young woman who had joined staff, and some pages from the website.
Today, we have more videos from that website as we prepare for what might be the first Ideal Org grand opening in three years.
At the top of the post, you can see another testimonial video from “Kiana.” And below, not one but two videos extolling the highlights of life in Chicago. Come on down, kids!
But we also want to point out that two of our readers in the Chicago area checked things out for us in the last couple of days, and saw little sign that the building at 650 S Clark St is being prepared for its closeup.
“This building looks exactly like it did the last time I went by it seven years ago,” one of our readers told us.
Another correspondent also said he saw no sign of imminent activity: “There is an ugly flapping tarp covering the signage, but no sign of a ribbon or other Ideal Org regalia on the building. I checked a website listing Chicago filming permits (chicagofilming.com), but there is nothing for the block. I didn't see the kind of fliers required to shut down the block or to ban parking for a day.”
So what gives? As Mike indicated, “all Scientologists” are being told to show up on Saturday at 3 pm for some kind of event in Chicago, which sure suggests a grand opening. But our readers saw no indication that the building is being prepared.
We’ll keep an eye on it. Now, here are those two videos that should convince you to move to Chicago and join staff already, pilgrims!
Thank you for reading today’s story here at Substack. For the full picture of what’s happening today in the world of Scientology, please join the conversation at tonyortega.org, where we’ve been reporting daily on David Miscavige’s cabal since 2012. There you’ll find additional stories, and our popular regular daily features:
Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history
Avast, Ye Mateys: Snapshots from Scientology’s years at sea
Overheard in the Freezone: Indie Hubbardism, one thought at a time
Past is Prologue: From this week in history at alt.religion.scientology
Random Howdy: Your daily dose of the Captain
Here’s the link for today’s post at tonyortega.org
And whatever you do, subscribe to this Substack so you get our breaking stories and daily features right to your email inbox every morning…
Another Chicago Scientology hype video! But is the Saturday ‘Ideal Org’ event happening?