The
Gilman Hot Springs property on which Gold Base sits was originally known as San Jacinto Hot Springs and contained about half a dozen
hot springs named for the Mexican land grant
Rancho San Jacinto Viejo. The springs were first developed in the late 1800s into a resort called Relief Hot Springs. The Gilman brothers acquired the property in 1913 and operated it for 65 years under the name Gilman Relief Hot Springs and later Gilman Hot Springs. Along with
Soboba Hot Springs and
Eden Hot Springs, it was one of three early 20th-century resorts near San Jacinto that offered vacationers the opportunity to relax, bathe in, and drink hot mineral waters bubbling up from the
San Jacinto Fault, an offshoot of the
San Andreas Fault. Changing vacation habits and a decline of public interest in mineral waters meant that Gilman Hot Springs was no longer a viable business by the late 1970s; it went bankrupt and the property was sold in 1978. Hoag himself was unaware of the identity of the buyer and said later: "I think they really didn't want people to know because it was controversial." Scientology spokesman
Heber Jentzsch told the
Riverside Press-Enterprise that he had "no information" of any Scientology involvement with the former resort. Other spokesmen for the trust that bought the property claimed that it had been purchased by "wealthy Eastern investors" or wealthy investors from the
Palm Springs area. The Riverside County Sheriff's Office took an interest after it was rumoured that pornographic films were being made there or that an
organized crime group had taken over the resort, but the property was hurriedly vacated before an official investigation could begin. Signs posted at the entrance to the property did not mention Scientology. One, erected in the fall of 1979, attributed ownership to the "Western States Scientific Communications Association" while another, replacing the first in April 1980, proclaimed: "Massacre Canyon Development Co. – Future sites condominiums and homes." A man calling himself "Dan Pook" met with local civic groups to explain the condominium project, telling residents in March 1980 that the site was to be used for the construction of "condominiums, mobile homes and single-family residences". He was later identified as Ronald Pook, a Scientology
public relations official responsible for disseminating "shore stories" (or cover stories) about the church's plans for the property. The intense secrecy was due to Scientology's acute legal difficulties at the time. Scientology was embroiled in scandal after Hubbard's wife
Mary Sue and a number of other Scientologists had been arrested by the
FBI the previous year and charged with running an enormous espionage network,
Operation Snow White, against the U.S. government. Hubbard himself was named as an "
unindicted co-conspirator". He went into hiding in a desert ranch in
La Quinta, which was codenamed "W" (for "winter headquarters"). Gilman Hot Springs was similarly codenamed "S", for "summer headquarters". The La Quinta property was closed down in March 1978 and Hubbard moved to an apartment complex in Hemet, codenamed "X". Hubbard's personal staff, known as the Commodore's Messengers, shuttled between "X" and "S" using various
counter-surveillance methods to shake off anyone tracking them: switching between locations, using secret meeting points, relaying information covertly, using
aliases and so on. Nobody was allowed to travel directly between the two locations but had to make indirect trips of up to 120 miles. Hubbard himself was at the centre of an elaborate security system with buzzers and red lights to warn him if strangers turned up. Staff were drilled to deny any knowledge of Hubbard and maintained a getaway car for him that was accessible through a garage that opened onto a different street. The existence of Gilman Hot Springs was kept secret even from other Scientologists. Staff members on the base were not allowed to make telephone calls or to send mail directly. If they did get permission to use the telephone, they were instructed to say that they were calling from
Clearwater, Florida, where Scientology's
Flag Land Base is located. Hubbard did not live at Gilman Hot Springs but ordered that Bonnie View, a
Tudor-style house on the property, should be renovated for his use. He instructed that it was to be "dust-free, defensible" and that high walls with "openings for gun emplacements" were to be constructed around it. Scientologists who had been posted to the
Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF) – a kind of punishment unit – were made to carry out the work of redecorating the house and ensuring that it was free of dust and odors. The original house was eventually torn down and rebuilt but the new construction was not finished until 2000, long after Hubbard's death in January 1986. The disclosure caused Hubbard to flee Hemet and sparked a panic at the base, which Scientology spokesman
Robert Vaughn Young was sent in to resolve. He decided to present what Scientology would call an "acceptable truth", turning a small, shut-down film and audio unit at the compound into a working facility called Golden Era Studios which could be presented to the press as the "real" function of the base. The conversion happened overnight: After the "flap" had died down, Scientology's international management staff moved back onto the base and have remained there ever since. The jailing of Mary Sue Hubbard on
conspiracy charges in 1981 set off a power struggle within Scientology that was won by the Commodore's Messenger Organization, a group of mostly young Scientologists – many of them teenagers, some as young as ten years old – which took over Scientology by the end of 1981. That year a body called the
All Clear Unit was set up at Gilman Hot Springs under the management of the then 21-year-old David Miscavige. Its purpose was to make it "All Clear" for Hubbard to come out of hiding. They were sufficiently confident of success that, in 1982, a mock ship called the
Star of California was built at the property as a present to the nautically minded Hubbard, constructed at a reported cost of $500,000. Scientology was able to reduce costs by using its own staff as labor, paying them less than $20 for a 100-hour work week. In February 1988, Scientology won permission from the Riverside County Planning Commission to rebuild the golf course at Gilman Hot Springs. Scientology's application was opposed by many area residents, who were concerned about the disruption that the development would cause. The commission's public meeting was packed by nearly 200 people, mostly Scientologists wearing lapel buttons supporting the church's expansion and renovation program. Scientology also disclosed plans to construct additional studios, offices, storage buildings, housing and recreational facilities, as well as renovating 35 existing buildings to bring them up to required standards. Scientology was given a year to complete the golf course, but it was only reopened in 1991. Since 1998, Scientology has spent at least $45 million expanding Gold Base and acquiring dozens of nearby homes and vacant lots. Scientology has also undertaken a considerable amount of community outreach to improve its relationship with its neighbors. Gold Base has hosted
Chamber of Commerce events and has allowed the local high school band to use its recording studio. Fishing tournaments for children have been held at the compound's lake and local dignitaries have been invited to liaise with base staff. In 2011, a man was killed in a head-on collision outside the compound.
Demonstrations and controversy A former church executive testified in 1994 that church money was set aside at Gold Base for
HK91s,
45s,
shotguns, ammo and gunpowder, and that "motorcycle guards were trained to carry loaded cocked 45 caliber pistols." Anti-Scientology demonstrators began picketing Gold Base in 1997, prompting litigation from Scientology against one protester,
Keith Henson. A Scientology bid to impose a temporary
restraining order on Henson was overturned in February 1998 when Judge Stephen D. Cunnison of Riverside Superior Court ruled that Henson was legitimately exercising his right to free speech. He told Scientology's attorney,
Kendrick Moxon: "You don't have a situation here where the defendant is stopping people. This is not an abortion clinic situation." Moxon complained that Henson's one-man demonstration was threatening the safety of Golden Era employees and motorists along the state highway. Henson was later convicted of a
misdemeanor charge arising out of a demonstration at the base and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. Members of the
hacktivist group
Anonymous picketed Gold Base in November 2008. The demonstration was held outside the property but prompted clashes between Scientology guards and demonstrators which were recorded on video. As giant loudspeakers in the base broadcast noise to drown out the demonstrators, guards tackled one demonstrator to the ground and tripped another one with a leg sweep. Scientologists told Riverside County Sheriff's deputies that the first demonstrator had bitten one of them and that he was guilty of trespassing on private land. Scientology subsequently lobbied county authorities to ban the demonstrations. At a public hearing in December 2008 the Riverside County Supervisor,
Jeff Stone, accused the protesters of "oppressing Jews, Christians and black people and encouraging youth suicide and terrorism." Stone did not disclose at the time that his political fund had received a $5,400 donation from the law firm that represented Scientology at the hearing, and another $600 from the head of the public relations department at Gold Base. After the donations were disclosed, he was fined $16,000 by the
California Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to properly report $84,052 in contributions. The measure, known as Ordinance 884, was adopted in March 2009 but attracted controversy for what critics said were its unconstitutional restrictions on free speech. The distance was eventually reduced to and then to just after county supervisors found that they had effectively banned their own existing practice of protesting against
sex offenders living in the county. In 2009,
Scientology officials began lobbying to close Gilman Springs Road, which is used by about 17,000 cars daily. The request was opposed "under any circumstances" by the San Jacinto City Council. ==Life at Gold Base==