The Italian palazzo that fought a decade of lawsuits

Imagine a 40,000 square foot Italian Renaissance palazzo standing in the middle of downtown Riverside. That is the architectural style of this 1909 YMCA building. The building was designed in the style of an Italian Renaissance palazzo and was granted historic status by the city in 1980.

History here took a sharp turn in 1974. After the YMCA moved out in 1968, the building was purchased and refurbished by Bent Corydon. He turned it into a franchise for the Church of Scientology. The 40,000 square foot building was the largest Mission of the Church of Scientology at the time of its use in 1974.

Corydon left the Church a few years later. He then spent the next decade in a legal battle against the Church of Scientology for ownership of the building. He won the battle in 1992.

Today, the building is owned by Life Arts Center Incorporated. The bottom floor was once a gymnasium and is now vacant. The main floor has three halls rented for wedding receptions, business events, graduations and quinceañeras, while the top floor contains 25 studios rented by artists. These studios were formerly hotel rooms rented by the YMCA.

Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons