The Fort Harrison Hotel serves as the flagship building of the Flag Land Base, the

Church of Scientology The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, which is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious ...

's spiritual headquarters in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a popu ...

, US. It is owned and operated by the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc., a subsidiary of the

Church of Scientology International The Church of Scientology International, Inc. (CSI) is a California 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Letter by the Internal Revenue Service to Flemming Paludan, Regional Director, Danish Tax-Office, Washington, D.C., December 22, 1993 Within t ...

. The hotel has 11 stories and features 220 rooms, three restaurants, a swimming pool and a ballroom. The building is connected by a skywalk to the Flag Building.

History

The hotel opened in 1926 as the "New Fort Harrison Hotel", replacing the former Fort Harrison Hotel. It was built by developer Ed Haley and was used as a community center for many years. The hotel was operated by Ransom E. Olds, inventor of the

Oldsmobile Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it pro ...

, from 1926 until his death in 1950. The name comes from

Fort Harrison Fort Harrison, later renamed Fort Burnham, was an important component of the Confederate defenses of Richmond during the American Civil War. Named after Lieutenant William Harrison, a Confederate engineer, it was the largest in the series of f ...

, a

Seminole War The Seminole Wars (also known as the Florida Wars) were three related military conflicts in Florida between the United States and the Seminole, citizens of a Native American nation which formed in the region during the early 1700s. Hostilities ...

-era U.S. Army fort built in the 1830s, south of today's downtown Clearwater. The

fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

was named for

William Henry Harrison William Henry Harrison (February 9, 1773April 4, 1841) was an American military officer and politician who served as the ninth president of the United States. Harrison died just 31 days after his inauguration in 1841, and had the shortest pres ...

and was the western counterpart of Fort Brooke in what became

Tampa Tampa () is a city on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The city's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and the seat of Hillsborough C ...

. (See also the history of Clearwater.) In 1953, the hotel was bought by the Jack Tar Hotels and became known as the "New Fort Harrison Hotel, a Jack Tar Hotel". The company added a cabana area to the building. By the 1970s, the hotel began to fall into disrepair. In 1975, the Church of Scientology purchased the building under the names "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" and "United Churches of Florida Inc". In 1976, the Church of Scientology's connection and the named purchasers was reported by the '' St. Petersburg Times'', as was the Church's plan for a $2.8 million restoration and upgrade of the hotel. In 2007, the Church announced that the hotel would undergo another $20 million restoration project, but not when the project would begin.

Use in Scientology

The Fort Harrison Hotel is used, according to the Church of Scientology, as an area in which to feed, train and house visiting practitioners. The hotel was used for the

Rehabilitation Project Force The Rehabilitation Project Force, or RPF, is the Church of Scientology's program for members of its Sea Organization who have allegedly violated expectations or policies. This may include members who are deemed to have hidden evil intentions tow ...

(RPF), a program used to punish members of the Church of Scientology Sea Organization for "serious deviations." Members of the church in this institution are subject to prison-like conditions, forced labor and other human rights violations.

Notable incidents

In December 1926, daredevil Henry Roland scaled the building blindfolded. The Fort Harrison Hotel has been the site of at least three suspicious deaths since 1975, most notably the death of

Lisa McPherson Lisa McPherson (February 10, 1959 – December 5, 1995) was an American member of the Church of Scientology who died of a pulmonary embolism while under the care of the Church's Flag Service Organization (FSO) in Clearwater, Florida. Following ...

, who died on December 5, 1995, after spending 17 days in room 174 of the building. The officially reported cause of death was a blood clot caused by dehydration and bedrest. The Church later challenged the findings of the autopsy in court. In 1997, a church spokesman acknowledged that McPherson died at the Fort Harrison, rather than on the way to the hospital. The church later retracted its spokesman's statement. In February 1980, prior to McPherson's death, a Scientologist named Josephus A. Havenith was found dead at the Fort Harrison Hotel. He was discovered in a bathtub filled with water hot enough to have burned his skin off. The officially reported cause of death was drowning, although the coroner noted that, when he was found, Havenith's head was not submerged. In August 1988, Scientologist Heribert Pfaff died of a seizure in the Fort Harrison Hotel. He had recently stopped taking his seizure medication in favor of a vitamin program. In 1997, Clearwater police received over 160

emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

calls from the Fort Harrison Hotel, but they were denied entry into the hotel by Scientology security.

Trivia

In 1965, the

Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

wrote their hit song "

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" is a song recorded by the English rock band the Rolling Stones. A product of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards' songwriting partnership, it features a guitar riff by Richards that opens and drives the song. The riff ...

" at the hotel. The hotel was once the spring training home of the

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

References

External links

Flag Service Organization
– International Religious Retreat *

Flag.org
Scientology in Clearwater *
QuickTime VR tour
of the Fort Harrison (be sure to enable "Hot Spots")
Property ownership record of the Fort Harrison Hotel

Corporate filing of the FSO

www.whyaretheydead.info
Web site investigating the various suspicious deaths that occurred in the hotel {{Scientology Skyscraper hotels in Florida Hotel buildings completed in 1926 Scientology properties Mediterranean Revival architecture in Florida 1926 establishments in Florida