Gold Base

The Gold Base is the informal name of the international headquarters of the Church of Scientology [http://www.whyaretheydead.net/krasel/aff_at.html Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyan] United States District Court, Central District of California case no. CV 91 6426 HLH (Tx)] [http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/Media/video/legal/prince_erlich.pdf Affidavit of Jesse Prince] United States District Court, Central District of California, San Jose Division case no. C-95-20091 RMW (EAI)] , located on a convert|500|acre|km2|sing=on parcel of land just outside of San Jacinto, California. It is located at or near 19625 Gilman Springs Road, Gilman Hot Springs, California 92583. The area is the home of Golden Era Productions, the media and publications division of the church, which is the largest of the many organizational units located there. David Miscavige and other top leaders of the church live and work on the Base. " [http://www.xenu.net/archive/go/quill.htm Scientology from inside out] " by Robert Vaughn Young, Quill magazine, Volume 81, Number 9, Nov/Dec 1993.] [http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scientology18dec18,0,2963052.story "Tom Cruise and Scientology"] , Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005: "voter registration records list the Gilman Hot Springs complex as Miscavige's residence since the early 1990s and as recently as the 2004 general election"] " [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology Inside Scientology] " by Janet Reitman. Rolling Stone, Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67.]

About the Base

The base is home to all of the highest level management units of the Church of Scientology, all of which are staffed by Sea Organization members. Among the organizations there are the Religious Technology Center, the Commodore's Messenger Organization International and Golden Era Productions. Golden Era Productions manufactures the E-Meter and produces and distributes all church audio-visual materials, both internal and promotional.cite news | first = Thomas C | last = Tobin | title = A place called 'Gold' | url = http://www.sptimes.com/TampaBay/102598/scientologygold.html | publisher = St. Petersburg Times | date = 1998-10-25 | accessdate = 2007-03-18]

The Gold Base is also referred to as the "Int Base", sometimes as the Hemet base. Until the mid-1990s the location of the base and the presence of international management there were kept secret, even to Scientologists at lower organizations.

In an article published in the "LA Weekly", Gale Holland wrote that there are critics of the Church of Scientology who say that Gold Base "houses the church's highly secretive security apparatus".cite news | author = Gale Holland | title = Unfair Game: Scientologists Get Their Man | url = http://www.laweekly.com/news/news/unfair-game/4713/ | publisher = LA Weekly | date = 2001-06-20 | accessdate = 2007-08-25] There are motion sensors every several feet and mounted video surveillance cameras.

Currently, most base personnel live in Hemet at the Vista Gardens Apartments or the Kirby Apartments and commute by base-owned bus.cite web |url = http://www.latimes.com/media/acrobat/2005-12/21006726.pdf |format = PDF|title = Scientology's inland empire |accessdate = 2007-08-25 |last = Perry |first = Rebecca | coauthors = Kelsen, Don|date = 2005-12-17|work = Los Angeles Times|publisher = ] [cite journal | author = Staff | title = After spending half of her life in Scientology, she found truth & freedom in Jesus Christ | journal = Baptist Press | date = August 16, 2005 | url = http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=21407 ]

Features

Notable buildings and features in Gold Base include:
*Upper Villas—RTC offices and housing, where David Miscavige and other high level Scientologists live and work
*BonnieView—L. Ron Hubbard's former home, kept pristine and waiting by staff
*Cine Castle—main film studio in the shape of a castle, for producing church A/V materials
*OGH buildings—Old Gilman House. Formerly "isolation" space for physically ill staff. Possibly now used for auditing or solo auditing.
*Del Sol—CSI offices, and auditing rooms for staff.
*Staff berthing—four buildings where staff live.
*Qual Gold—Headquarters for Qual Sec, in charge of "quality control" as per the Hubbard organization policies. In practice this mostly means facilities staff auditing and training.
*MCI—This large building is the staff dining hall, known as "Massacre Canyon Inn" from the building's pre-Scientology name when the property was a resort.

Gold Base also has recreational facilities, including basketball, volleyball, and soccer facilities, an exercise building, a waterslide, a small lake, two beaches, and a golf course. [ [http://alley.ethercat.com/cgi-bin/xint/xint.cgi?2 Scientology - Ex-INT Base Staff Interrogatory - Interviews] ] [ [http://www.lermanet.com/image/hemet-labeled.jpgSatellite photograph of "Gold base", Gilman Hot Springs, California] ] [cite web | first = Claire | last = Hoffman | coauthors = Christensen, Kim | title = Tom Cruise and Scientology | url = http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-scientology18dec18,0,2963052.story | work = | publisher = Los Angeles Times | date = 2005-12-18 | accessdate = 2008-01-24 ] [ [http://www.freezone.org/gilman_hot_springs.htm Gilman Hot Springs] ]

Picketing at Gold Base

Keith Henson picketed Gold Base compound to protest the deaths of a Scientologist, Stacy Moxon Meyer, and a non-Scientologist, Ashlee Shaner.

Meyer, the daughter of lead Scientology attorney Kendrick Moxon, died in an underground electrical vault at the Gold Base at about the same time that picketers aboveground were protesting the previous death of Ashlee Shaner. Shaner died in an auto accident on the road fronting Gold Base when a contractor working for the Church was moving a piece of construction equipment across the highway after dusk without adequate lighting. [ [http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/shanner-nove.htm Nove manslaughter case (Ashlee Shaner)] ]

References

External links