[...] But the coup de grâce of Scientology's campaign to keep its members motivated and their wallets open is a massive 380,000-square-foot Mediterranean Revival structure, occupying a whole block in Clearwater across from the Fort Harrison Hotel, known as the Super Power Building. Though the Church broke ground on the building a decade ago, and almost everything has been flawlessly in place on the exterior since 2004, it is still not completed. According to the Church's website, the Super Power Building will contain 889 rooms on six floors, a dining room that can serve 1,400 people, facilities for 1,200 staffers and 1,600 "parishioners," five miles of carpet, and 180 miles of electrical wiring. The Church has announced and ignored innumerable completion dates; it now says it expects the building to open in mid-2008. [...]

"They promised to have all this done four years ago, but we have not seen it," said Doug Williams, chairman of the code board. "They have not done what they were supposed to be doing."

Church officials hoped to have the building completed by 2004. But work stopped in 2003 to retool the design of the interior, and then permits expired Nov. 21, 2004.

The church did little to the building after that.

Here's a look at what the Church of Scientology says it will spend on its Clearwater properties:

$24-million to construct a new "Super Power" counseling and training center on Fort Harrison Avenue across the street from the Scientologists' main local property, the Fort Harrison Hotel. Previously, Scientology fund-raisers told potential donors that the building would cost $40-million. [...]