GET OUT OF MY CITY!!! 
Source:
http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1246137.html
Former science museum building gets religion
The building that once was home to the Science Museum's vast collection of dinosaurs, fossils, scientific artifacts and later an academy for high school business students is now the new home of the Church of Scientology.
By Tim Harlow, Star Tribune
Last update: June 14, 2007 – 1:47 PM
The building that once was home to the Science Museum's vast collection of dinosaurs, fossils, scientific artifacts and later an academy for high school business students is now the new home of the Church of Scientology.
Eric Rapp, a broker with Bloomington-based Welsh Cos., confirmed the sale today, but declined to disclose how much the Church of Scientology paid for the 80,000 square-foot building at 30 E. 10th St. in downtown St. Paul.
The building has been on the market since last spring when the Minnesota Business Academy closed its doors at the end of the 2005-06 school year. Several potential buyers, including schools, cultural organizations and medical business, had expressed interest in the building, but its size made it difficult to sell, Rapp said.
"That was a recurring problem; it kind of needed a big user," Rapp said. "It's a big building and it can't be divided up that well. It needed somebody who was going to use all or a big chunk of it."
But in recent months, the Church of Scientology came forward and snapped it up. The deal was finalized last Friday, Rapp said.
Rapp was unaware of specific plans the church has for the building which the Science Museum occupied until it moved to is riverfront location in 1999, but said the Church of Scientology has "major renovation" planned.
The St. Paul campus will largest holding for the Church of Scientology in the Twin Cities. It has a much smaller branch on Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.
The Church of Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life, according to its web site.
The Church of Scientology was created by L. Ron Hubbard in 1950. Two of its most notable adherents are actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta.
Tim Harlow •
harlow@startribune.com
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