91视频

The Church of Scientology has had a presence in Portland since the 1950s, but only now is the congregation getting a proper home, said Gwen Barnard, spokeswoman for its Portland chapter.

鈥淚t just means everything to us to have our own home and our own place that we can calls ours for generations,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a dream for any church congregation.鈥�

The church鈥檚 new home will be in the Sherlock Building on Southwest Third Avenue. In January, after a number of delays, a multimillion-dollar interior renovation project began to convert the historic building into the chapter鈥檚 headquarters.

Most of the delays stemmed from the building鈥檚 condition, according to Barnard. When the church bought the property in 2010 for $6.4 million, it underestimated the amount of structural work that would be needed. A complete seismic retrofit 鈥� including installation of new concrete sheer walls and new steel bracing 鈥� was required. And all of the building鈥檚 wood floors and beams had to be reinforced.

In addition, the foundation of a previous building (church officials said they did not know its origin) was found below the foundation of the Sherlock Building, which was built in 1894. Crews had to work around it, which slowed construction.

鈥淚t was definitely extensive work, especially considering this is a historic building, so we had to take some extra care,鈥� said Erin Banks, public relations officer for the Church of Scientology International. 鈥淲e had to do an enormous amount of structural work.鈥�

Also, the city鈥檚 permitting process took longer than expected, Barnard added. This was because of the unforeseen difficulties; design plans had to be altered and redone in some cases.

In the long run, however, all seismic work will justify itself, Barnard said.

鈥淵ou always hear the talk in Oregon about a big earthquake coming 鈥� that building will still be standing after,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t will be here forever.鈥�

Following the renovation, the four-story, 68,000-square-foot building will include a large chapel, a caf茅 for parishioners and visitors, and multiple seminar rooms and course rooms. It also will include dozens of rooms for a spiritual counseling process called 鈥渁uditing.鈥� The simple design of the rooms 鈥� each one will have a desk and two chairs 鈥� is intended to create a distraction-free and quiet environment, which is necessary in order for subjects to 鈥渁chieve spiritual enlightenment,鈥� Banks said.

On the first floor, the building will hold a public information center where visitors can learn more about church beliefs and practices, and take self-guided tours through an exhibit on founder L. Ron Hubbard. More than 500 videos will be presented, according to church officials, and 鈥渂etterment鈥� programs will be explained.

鈥淥ur new church is designed to be a home for the entire community,鈥� Banks said. 鈥淲e look forward to collaborating with our wonderful community in Portland and beyond.鈥�

This is not the first time the church has owned a historic building downtown. In 2008, it purchased the Stevens Building on Southwest Washington Street for $5.38 million. After two years, the church decided it wasn鈥檛 a good fit and has since tried to sell it.

The Stevens Building did not have enough space, Barnard said. The church wanted to build a 250-person chapel as well as a wide-open lobby area. In the Stevens Building, that would have required a massive renovation and remodel 鈥� even more expansive than the one in the Sherlock Building.

鈥淭he Stevens Building is tall, but there isn鈥檛 a way to open it up,鈥� Barnard said. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 wonderful about (the renovation) is it creates our home; we haven鈥檛 had our building designed for us, with our church logo.鈥�

, an international firm, produced the design; it鈥檚 similar to other recent building renovations for the church. The Sherlock Building鈥檚 public information center, for example, will be like the one in the church鈥檚 Los Angeles building.

鈥淲e have very specific space plan requirements that we follow for all of our churches,鈥� Banks said. 鈥淲e have opened more new churches in the past two years than ever in our history 鈥� but Portland is absolutely one of our next churches to open in the coming year.鈥�

The renovation, which is being handled by , is expected to finish sometime in 2013.