Sydney Org Makes the money for its Ideal Org!

[Purple Rain]

Oh, damn, bother and flip! These are not the words I am thinking, but I'm not sure how much swearing is allowed on this board. But I am severely in danger of becoming a howling squirrel. I am certainly not a happy little squirrel.

 

[thefatman]

My understanding was that they required approximately $12 or $14 million in total to begin the renovations (a figure which, given they don't want to do much to the facade anymore, astounds me). Given the sheer number of restrictions placed on their DA I don't think it will be remotely possible for them to come close to ever finishing the damn thing let alone opening the Org. DM will use this as an excuse to continue raising a shitload of money from the public while holding up some bullshit claim of being "almost there".

As for the 1 Sci with $10 million and so on, I daresay it was about 500 with varying amounts of money, given it can't possibly be 10,000 as there were only 2,500 in the whole country in the 2006 census and that number has surely dropped since. On that note, we'll find out what the new figure is in about the middle of next year.

 

[Kookaburra]

Oh, damn, bother and flip! These are not the words I am thinking, but I'm not sure how much swearing is allowed on this board. But I am severely in danger of becoming a howling squirrel. I am certainly not a happy little squirrel.

Don't worry, Purple Rain. The next stage will be wildly entertaining. They have a huge problem of the fire escape, or lack thereof, and no place to put one. Once they moved out of the building, that was it. They can't move back in and neither can anyone else until the problem is rectified.

Now of course they haven't told the suckers about this. Not what you want to advertise when you are presenting the picture of a beautiful new org full of people.

They also have the problem of having spent a couple of million dollars of the renovation fund on rent on that back alley warehouse they are currently in. Oh, and I think there is a problem with the lease on that one. Does anyone know what the scoop is on that?

And how are they going to handle it when there are still no new public in their ideal org, if they ever get that far, and their public want to know what they are really getting for their 11 million dollars.

Stock up on popcorn.

 

[oneonewasaracecar]

They have done some demolition on the internal walls recently, but the place still looks terrible and as Kook says, they cannot build on it.

 

[Purple Rain]

Oh ... well, in that case ...

 

[Zhent]

After reading through the information in this thread I am fairly convinced that this 'milestone' is a sham (well durr, but...).

Keen Sydney Ideal Org followers will recall that recently a new DA was applied for 201 Castlereagh (here), this was significantly separate from the main DA and was essentially just a facelift to the exterior at a meager cost of $5000.

The $10 Million raised milestone figure is pretty irrelevant, the goalposts have been moved so often that perhaps no-one actually knows the true data on monies raised and correct fundraising stages reached. What is more important is the figure left to go. Panda has quoted a figure of $3.75 million which is quite astounding. If this figure is correct then no matter which way you look at it something is very wrong here. On one hand if the $10 million figure is correct then costs have blown out enormously to nearly $14 million, on the other hand if original target figures have been kept ($12 mil, $10 mil?) then they are way under their claimed milestone. Of course lets not forget that the final stage of fundraising, that is after reno's have started was only suppose to cost $1.5 million...

One way or another I think this current 'milestone' will in actuality be linked to the aforementioned $5000 facade lift, and not a significant reno start. A vain and desperate attempt to try and convince the Sydney field that progress is happening.

Super Powers Building, anyone?


In related news: Sydney Org still occupies 4 Hercules St, Surry Hills, despite the fact its one year, and then one year extension expired last month (2 years total occupation). We are left only to conclude the Church has managed to negotiate further (private) leases with the new building owners, hopefully at a large and punishing cost...

 

[Freeminds]

If anybody in Scientology had any kind of knowledge of real-world project management skills, they'd be stunned and horrified by the conduct of the Ideal Org programme.

• Instead of concentrating on a few branches at a time, opening those and moving on, you try to advance every single one... and as a result have nothing but a string of empty shells and building sites.
• Instead of creating a 'flagship store' on each continent and letting this drive demand, the push for Ideal Orgs comes from the top - when management have for decades only been told what they want to hear.
• Instead of assessing the need for larger cult facilities, and focusing expansion efforts on the cities where there is growth, expansion appears to be guided purely by each city's ability to pay for the new facility.
• Instead of ensuring that zoning permission is obtained and that the architect's proposals comply with local building codes, buildings are purchased willy-nilly, in the hope that the necessary permissions can be obtained.
• Instead of working to a detailed budget for the whole project, each facility depends upon a mass of additional fundraisers for fitting out, stocking with books and so on. If any of these fundraisers fails, so does the Ideal Org in that city.
• Instead of putting in place a fund for the operation of the building in the first year or so, newly-opened facilities are so cash-poor that they can't afford to run the heating or air conditioning, which accelerates their fall into disuse.
• Instead of employing a professional master builder who would contract to complete works within a specified time frame, the Scientologists in charge of each project attempt to "save money" by using unskilled labour - despite the costs of failing to open... for years.
• Instead of protecting assets by bringing them into use, buildings stand idle, and risk deterioration. This results in additional costs including damage caused by squatters, vandals and arsonists, plus fines for failing to maintain listed buildings in good condition.
• Instead of building upon a wave of goodwill from the public who expect to make use of the new facilities, the public are left with nothing to show for their donations, and many lose faith with the organisation in the years that follow.

This is Scientology at work. This is what Ideal Org donations buy you. It's utter madness, and ultimately self-defeating.

 

[Captain Koolaid]

Thank God the cult doesn't take advice from wogs.

 

[Panda Termint]

<snip...> What is more important is the figure left to go. Panda has quoted a figure of $3.75 million which is quite astounding. If this figure is correct then no matter which way you look at it something is very wrong here. <....snip>

The figure comes directly from the source!

 

[Kookaburra]

Thank God the cult doesn't take advice from wogs.

 

[Sir Facer]

Don't worry, Purple Rain. The next stage will be wildly entertaining. They have a huge problem of the fire escape, or lack thereof, and no place to put one. Once they moved out of the building, that was it. They can't move back in and neither can anyone else until the problem is rectified.

Now of course they haven't told the suckers about this. Not what you want to advertise when you are presenting the picture of a beautiful new org full of people.

They also have the problem of having spent a couple of million dollars of the renovation fund on rent on that back alley warehouse they are currently in. Oh, and I think there is a problem with the lease on that one. Does anyone know what the scoop is on that?

And how are they going to handle it when there are still no new public in their ideal org, if they ever get that far, and their public want to know what they are really getting for their 11 million dollars.

Stock up on popcorn.

Hey Kookaburra,

got an interesting note in my inbox from a source that is still in.

My little Private eye received a message informing her all the money was definitely in and they are starting on the renovations.......I believe this source, so I am just putting it out there to see if anyone else has heard the same. Like you said in your post Kookaburra, get the popcorn out cause this is going to be interesting with all the dramas ahead.........

 

[bpsyd]

been lurking, my 1st post, so dont use that to discount what i say..

I'm in the building industry in Sydney and I can tell you there is no $10m refurb at that site. Trust me, a $10m refurb is a cream job..builders like refurbs..10m turns into 15m because of "site issues",.."heritage issues",.."wow..didnt know that was there ..sorry only $$$ will fix it issues"....we, the Church of Buildingology have been screwing the punters for a lot longer than the CoS.

A job that big needs to get into the system..ATM's [Approaches to market],,who gives a fuck about this.. early EOI's [expressions of interest] - who can be fucked to bother to tender..then..meh..Tenders...fuck, who?, church of phrenology..shit.Thommo is gonna shit-can this when he does the risk assessment..

So, there is no talk in this town about this job. None of the big builders would go anywhere near it. All construction is done with finance from banks. No bank would take the risk.

Therefore it will only get built if they put $10M upfront into a builders bank account.

That site in Castlereagh St will be empty for 20-30 years.

 

[Sir Facer]

been lurking, my 1st post, so dont use that to discount what i say..

I'm in the building industry in Sydney and I can tell you there is no $10m refurb at that site. Trust me, a $10m refurb is a cream job..builders like refurbs..10m turns into 15m because of "site issues",.."heritage issues",.."wow..didnt know that was there ..sorry only $$$ will fix it issues"....we, the Church of Buildingology have been screwing the punters for a lot longer than the CoS.

A job that big needs to get into the system..ATM's [Approaches to market],,who gives a fuck about this.. early EOI's [expressions of interest] - who can be fucked to bother to tender..then..meh..Tenders...fuck, who?, church of phrenology..shit.Thommo is gonna shit-can this when he does the risk assessment..

So, there is no talk in this town about this job. None of the big builders would go anywhere near it. All construction is done with finance from banks. No bank would take the risk.

Therefore it will only get built if they put $10M upfront into a builders bank account.

That site in Castlereagh St will be empty for 20-30 years.

This does put a big smile on my face