Church of Scientology moving forward with renovations on historic building on Grand Boulevard

Kansas City, Missouri — The Church of Scientology is moving forward with a renovation project on a historic building on Grand Boulevard, a Scientology representative confirmed to FOX4.

A number of permits have been filed by the Church of Scientology for the property at 1805 Grand Boulevard, including for interior renovation, electrical, and fire sprinkler systems.

FOX4’s Kera Mashek reached out to a local Scientology representative on Tuesday, who confirmed the organization is moving forward with plans for the property.

“Indeed, we are moving forward with the renovations and restoration, and it is going well,” the representative said in an email. “The building will house an “Ideal” Church in Kansas City, meaning that it will be designed to provide the full services of the Scientology religion to its parishioners and to the community. This includes public information multimedia displays describing all aspects of the religion and its community outreach programs. A Chapel will provide for Sunday Services as well as community-wide events. There is no official date for the completion of this project, but we will let you know when we have any official announcements about the timing.”

Scientology owns several properties around Kansas City, including one on E. 39th Street. Signs out front offer IQ and personality tests. In 2007, the organization purchased the old City National Building at 18th & Grand in downtown Kansas City for $5,076,091.50. But the massive building with twin seven story towers joined by a two-story lobby, has stood vacant ever since.

FOX4 reported back in September that the building is on the National Historic Registry, but is not on a local listing which would require more scrutiny for renovations.

Records show the Church of Scientology in Kansas City is connected to dozens of other company names. One of them is Grand Investments International, with a company president listed as Lee Shin, headquartered in the attached building on Grand Boulevard.