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Gold Base
Gold Base (also variously known as Gold, Golden Era Productions, Int Base or Int) is the de facto international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about 85 miles (137 km) from Los Angeles. The heavily guarded compound comprises about fifty buildings surrounded by high fences topped with blades and watched around the clock by security personnel, cameras and motion detectors. The property is bisected by a public road, which is closely monitored by Scientology with cameras recording passing traffic.
The property had previously been a popular Inland Empire spa resort called Gilman Hot Springs, which was established in the 1890s. However, the resort went bankrupt in the late 1970s due to changes in American vacation habits. Bought for cash in 1978 by Scientology under the alias of the "Scottish Highland Quietude Club", it has since been developed and expanded considerably.
Gold Base houses numerous Scientology organizations and subsidiaries, including its in-house media production division, Golden Era Productions, which has its own movie studio on the site. Senior church officials, and up to 1,000 of the church's elite Sea Org live and work on the base; the church's leader, David Miscavige, also lived there until reportedly relocating to Clearwater, Florida, in the late 2010s. It is also the location of a $10 million mansion built for Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Although he never lived there before his death in 1986, the mansion and his living quarters are still maintained in anticipation of his predicted reincarnation. A number of prominent Scientologists have visited the base, notably Tom Cruise.
According to some former members of Scientology, conditions within Gold Base are harsh, with staff members receiving sporadic paychecks of $50 at most, working seven days a week, and being subjected to punishments for failing to meet work quotas. Media reports have stated that around 100 people a year try to escape from the base but most are soon retrieved by "pursuit teams".[better source needed] Despite many accounts of mistreatment from ex-members, law enforcement investigations and lawsuits against Scientology have been thwarted by the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom and the church's ability to rely on "ministerial exemptions" in employment law. Scientology denies any mistreatment and calls the base "the ideal setting for professional and spiritual growth".
Gold Base is located at the base of California's San Jacinto Mountains. The base covers an area of 520-acre (2.1 km2) near 19712 Gilman Springs Road, south-east of its intersection with California State Route 79, in unincorporated Riverside County, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of San Jacinto and Hemet. It consists of compounds on either side of Gilman Springs Road with underground pedestrian tunnels connecting them. Both parts of the property are surrounded by a chain link fence topped with "Ultra Barrier" spikes and razor wire, with motion sensors and lights. There are five heavily guarded gates into the base, three on the south side of Gilman Spring Road and two on the north.
Scientology spokesperson Catherine Fraser told the Valley Chronicle newspaper in 2009 that the spikes on the fences were intended to "prevent people and animals from intruding." When asked why half the spikes face inwards towards the interior of the compound (as pictured below), Scientology spokesperson Tommy Davis told KESQ-TV that "that's just how they were installed".
There are around fifty buildings on the property, many built in a mock-Scottish highlands style. Most are obscured from public view by tall hedges and high walls, monitored by video cameras. According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Scientology employees in uniform and guards on motorcycles can be glimpsed by motorists through the metal fence that surrounds the compound. Although the road which goes through the middle of the compound is public property, the church has video cameras and lights installed adjacent to traffic signs to record traffic heading in both directions.
The south side of Gold Base is primarily used by Golden Era Productions, Scientology's in-house movie studio. It includes a 74,000-square-foot (6,900 m2) studio in the style of a Scottish castle, which was built in 1997–1998 at a cost of $10.8 million to serve as a production facility for Scientology's training and promotional videos. The building, known as the "Cine Castle", replaced an earlier building known as "The Gym" which used to house Golden Era's shooting stage, make-up, costumes, camera, lighting and set sound departments.
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Gold Base
Gold Base (also variously known as Gold, Golden Era Productions, Int Base or Int) is the de facto international headquarters of the Church of Scientology, located north of San Jacinto, California, United States, about 85 miles (137 km) from Los Angeles. The heavily guarded compound comprises about fifty buildings surrounded by high fences topped with blades and watched around the clock by security personnel, cameras and motion detectors. The property is bisected by a public road, which is closely monitored by Scientology with cameras recording passing traffic.
The property had previously been a popular Inland Empire spa resort called Gilman Hot Springs, which was established in the 1890s. However, the resort went bankrupt in the late 1970s due to changes in American vacation habits. Bought for cash in 1978 by Scientology under the alias of the "Scottish Highland Quietude Club", it has since been developed and expanded considerably.
Gold Base houses numerous Scientology organizations and subsidiaries, including its in-house media production division, Golden Era Productions, which has its own movie studio on the site. Senior church officials, and up to 1,000 of the church's elite Sea Org live and work on the base; the church's leader, David Miscavige, also lived there until reportedly relocating to Clearwater, Florida, in the late 2010s. It is also the location of a $10 million mansion built for Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. Although he never lived there before his death in 1986, the mansion and his living quarters are still maintained in anticipation of his predicted reincarnation. A number of prominent Scientologists have visited the base, notably Tom Cruise.
According to some former members of Scientology, conditions within Gold Base are harsh, with staff members receiving sporadic paychecks of $50 at most, working seven days a week, and being subjected to punishments for failing to meet work quotas. Media reports have stated that around 100 people a year try to escape from the base but most are soon retrieved by "pursuit teams".[better source needed] Despite many accounts of mistreatment from ex-members, law enforcement investigations and lawsuits against Scientology have been thwarted by the First Amendment's guarantee of religious freedom and the church's ability to rely on "ministerial exemptions" in employment law. Scientology denies any mistreatment and calls the base "the ideal setting for professional and spiritual growth".
Gold Base is located at the base of California's San Jacinto Mountains. The base covers an area of 520-acre (2.1 km2) near 19712 Gilman Springs Road, south-east of its intersection with California State Route 79, in unincorporated Riverside County, about 4 miles (6.4 km) north-northwest of San Jacinto and Hemet. It consists of compounds on either side of Gilman Springs Road with underground pedestrian tunnels connecting them. Both parts of the property are surrounded by a chain link fence topped with "Ultra Barrier" spikes and razor wire, with motion sensors and lights. There are five heavily guarded gates into the base, three on the south side of Gilman Spring Road and two on the north.
Scientology spokesperson Catherine Fraser told the Valley Chronicle newspaper in 2009 that the spikes on the fences were intended to "prevent people and animals from intruding." When asked why half the spikes face inwards towards the interior of the compound (as pictured below), Scientology spokesperson Tommy Davis told KESQ-TV that "that's just how they were installed".
There are around fifty buildings on the property, many built in a mock-Scottish highlands style. Most are obscured from public view by tall hedges and high walls, monitored by video cameras. According to the Riverside Press-Enterprise, Scientology employees in uniform and guards on motorcycles can be glimpsed by motorists through the metal fence that surrounds the compound. Although the road which goes through the middle of the compound is public property, the church has video cameras and lights installed adjacent to traffic signs to record traffic heading in both directions.
The south side of Gold Base is primarily used by Golden Era Productions, Scientology's in-house movie studio. It includes a 74,000-square-foot (6,900 m2) studio in the style of a Scottish castle, which was built in 1997–1998 at a cost of $10.8 million to serve as a production facility for Scientology's training and promotional videos. The building, known as the "Cine Castle", replaced an earlier building known as "The Gym" which used to house Golden Era's shooting stage, make-up, costumes, camera, lighting and set sound departments.