SOAP LAKE — Anyone who owns a Lava Lamp knows you can’t put it in the closet for too long without pulling it out, plugging it in and watching the bubbles come to life.
So it is with Soap Lake’s giant Lava Lamp.
New plans are afoot to build a 60-foot-tall lamp, complete with state-of-the-art rotating lights inside that would mimic the bubbling globs of goo in the plug-in desktop variety.
“We see the Lava Lamp as a thing that’s going to have this irresistible pull. People are going to see it and say, ‘What is that?’ You couldn’t help but stop and get out, and say, ‘I gotta see more,'” said Andy Kovach, an Everett architect who designed the new Lava Lamp.
The new project will not use any parts from the Lava Lamp shell that once hung on a building in Times Square, which Target donated to the city of Soap Lake several years ago.
But unlike plans to erect the Target lamp, the Kovachs have permission to use the Lava Lamp name. After a year of behind-the-scenes design work, they are now ready to launch a $1 million fundraising effort to build it on a rock bluff at the south end of Soap Lake, between the city’s east and west beaches.
It would be the first thing travelers from the north will see when they round the corner from Lake Lenore. “When you see that, you’re going to know you’re in Soap Lake,” Kovach said.
Kovach and his wife, Nell, and son, Alex, got involved in the project as part-time residents of Soap Lake.
First, they went to Soap Lake artist Brent Blake, who in May of 2002 conceived the idea of building the world’s largest Lava Lamp in his town as a tourist attraction. His dream — and a photo illustration of the giant lamp in downtown Soap Lake — hit national media. Soon after, Target donated a 50-foot lamp to the city. But different plans to complete the structure and erect the mechanical lamp fell through.
Blake said he’s thrilled with Kovach’s design, and the new location.
So is Lava Lamp’s CEO Dale Zalusky, who called the plan “very achievable.” He added, “I gave my donation, which is the brand and the trademark.”
Soap Lake Mayor Wayne Hovde said the City Council is excited by Kovach’s proposal, and agreed to the new location.
“We have never let it die out completely,” he said of the idea of erecting a giant Lava Lamp. “Now, it’s back on the forefront.”
The Kovachs also envision an interpretive trail along the south shore that delves into the area’s unique environment, history and culture.
And, they believe it fits with local efforts to revive the lake as place of healing, and develop a wellness center.
“Back in the ’60s, they were a hippie thing,” Nell Kovach said. Today, they’re valued for their health benefits, she said.
Her son, Alex, said it’s the lamp’s meditative quality that gives it that reputation. “At Google, there’s one on every desk,” he said.
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Information from: The Wenatchee World, http://www.wenatcheeworld.com
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