It took two years and about $10 million, but the 12,000 local members of the Church of Scientology in Sacramento have a new house of worship.
The new Church of Scientology of Sacramento is a seven-story building at the site of the Old Ramona Hotel on the corner of Sixth and J streets. Inside can be found a chapel, multiple seminar rooms, classrooms, dozens of rooms for auditing or spiritual counseling, a bookstore and a cafe.
It has a Purification Center with treadmills and saunas. At the center, members can work off the mental and spiritual effects of drugs, said Erin Banks, spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology International. "This is where people can sweat out drugs, toxins, and pesticides that can affect you," Banks said. "It opens the way to spiritual progress."
The church was paid for by local donations, she said.
Monday, Victor Yang was one of many visitors who stopped by and looked at the TV monitors that were running video explaining Scientology. "I wanted to see what it was all about," he said.
Church officials said they expect about 25,000 annual visitors to the downtown church.
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