Clearwater Council Votes 3-2 to Vacate Downtown Streets for Scientology-Backed $50M Entertainment Center

The Clearwater City Council voted 3-2 Thursday night to hand over Grove Street, an alley and part of Laura Street so Myrtle Development LLC can build the EVO Family Entertainment Center, an 83,000-square-foot, $50 million project at Cleveland Street and Myrtle Avenue backed by the Church of Scientology's affiliated development arm. The vote clears one of the last major hurdles for a downtown complex that developers say will include the largest cinema screen in the world.

Myrtle Development, the entity behind the project, told the council the streets need to go so patrons don't have to cross traffic to get into the building. The company framed it as a safety issue and said the project could not move forward without the vacations.

Public comment ran long enough that the council had to extend the meeting. Most of the speakers backed the project. Business owners said a family entertainment venue downtown would bring foot traffic and spending their way. Parents said they wanted somewhere new to take their kids. A handful of residents pushed back, arguing the streets should stay public and raising concerns about parking downtown once the roads are gone.

Thursday's vote is not the final word. The council still has to take up a second reading on the street vacations, and a third meeting is planned to decide whether to vacate a separate piece of city-owned property tied to the project.

Part of a bigger pattern downtown

This is the second time in three months the council has voted 3-2 to give up public right-of-way for a Scientology-linked project. In June, the council approved handing the church's Flag Service Organization one block of South Garden Avenue for a planned all-glass auditorium and plaza called L. Ron Hubbard Hall. That project came with a six-year deadline to open the hall, and church attorneys said the site would remain open to the public and include green space.

Opposition to that vote came from a group called Save the Garden, which argues the church's growing footprint threatens what was once a hub for Clearwater's Black business community. The group collected roughly 9,000 signatures seeking a ballot measure requiring public approval for future street transfers. The city rejected those signatures, and Save the Garden is now suing.

Councilwoman Lina Teixeira voted against the Garden Avenue transfer in June, citing worries from city engineers about transit access and future stormwater infrastructure on a privatized street. It's unclear from Thursday's vote how the council split on the Grove Street item beyond the 3-2 margin.

The Cleveland Street Alliance, the Scientology-linked group promoting the entertainment center, has said in promotional materials that the seven-screen multiplex will be a reality soon. Whether that timeline holds now depends on how quickly the remaining approvals move through the council.

You can follow this and other Pinellas County developments on the Pinellas County Community Website, and join the discussion on our Facebook page. Got a take on the vote or what it means for downtown parking and traffic? Head over to our Community Forum to talk it through with your neighbors. For more on this and other decisions shaping local government, check out our government and politics coverage.

Header photo: Ebyabe / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)