Church of Scientology buys restaurant building on Airline

The Church of Scientology Mission of Baton Rouge has purchased a vacant restaurant building at 9716 Airline Hwy. “We need bigger facilities to accommodate our activities, and we like the architecture of that building,” says Dexter Manuel, a spokesman for the local church, which closed the property deal with First-Citizens Bank & Trust Co. of North Carolina on Jan. 2. The sales price was $550,000, and Michelle Ruston was the broker. Built in 1980, the 13,000-square-foot building was originally Jack Sabin’s restaurant. It later became the China Garden restaurant, and has also been home to other Chinese restaurants since, Ruston says. It has been vacant for about two years. “We’re intending it to look better and be more functional than it was originally,” Manuel says. “It’s going to retain its Southern charm, but it’s going to look better.” The church could take up to a year renovating the building before moving in, Manuel says. It will be double the size of the church’s current location at 9432 Common St. Manuel says the church has been based in Baton Rouge since 1984. —Adam Pearson