Clearwater is seeing momentum downtown. Is Scientology helping?
Published By admin
Clearwater officials say the city is finally experiencing an urban renaissance.
A slew of projects are happening downtown, including a hotel, a long-awaited Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority station and a new City Hall that’s scheduled to open in October.
City officials told the Tampa Bay Times they are excited about the moment the city is experiencing. But they remain unsure about the Church of Scientology’s role in Clearwater’s transformation, as downtown properties tied to the church have sat vacant for years.
“We really are seeing momentum and would love for them to activate the properties,” Mayor Bruce Rector said.
Companies with ties to the church own more than 200 mostly empty properties in the downtown area, the Times has reported. In downtown, where Scientology has its international spiritual headquarters, the church itself owns dozens of parcels.
City staff and officials began publicly sharing frustrations two years ago about the number of church-owned properties that remained vacant. They talked about wanting the church to turn some of its street-level offices into spaces for public use.
Not much has changed since then. Rector said if the church began bringing in businesses that were open to the public, it may “make the community feel better about them and their presence.”
Regardless of the church’s hold on real estate, the city in recent years has poured millions of dollars into its downtown.
Clearwater started an $84 million redevelopment of its waterfront 10 years ago, which brought in the successful The BayCare Sound amphitheater and transformed Coachman Park.
Last month, the city closed on the sale of its old City Hall property, which is part of a bluff development project that’s bringing a hotel, apartments and retail near Coachman.
“I feel like Clearwater has been on the cusp of coming to its full potential and this is just another indication that’s occurring,” City Manager Jennifer Poirrier said.
Read more https://www.tbnweekly.com/clearwater_beacon/article_2abffb05-ead1-4553-a725-0ee5cd323f24.html
Content retrieved from: https://www.tbnweekly.com/clearwater_beacon/article_2abffb05-ead1-4553-a725-0ee5cd323f24.html.
