Target may gift Soap Lake with lava lamp

Giant lamp project held up by economy

Soap Lake's project to house the world's largest lava lamp may soon get a shot in the arm.

Brent Blake, president and CEO of the Soap Lake Giant Lava Lamp Project, Inc., said that the company is in the midst of negotiations with Target's corporate offices to receive a giant lava lamp sign structure that currently stands on the corner of a building in in New York City's Time Square.

"It's a big structure — it's about 30 feet tall and maybe 18 feet in diameter," Blake said. "It's a mechanical lava lamp that has lava that moves up and down inside the form, and it's lit from the inside." Blake said it does not actually function like a lava lamp.

Blake said that the head of Target community relations contacted him about a year ago. He was familiar with the project, and thought that Soap Lake would have fun with the sign when they took it down.

But there are still issues to be sorted out, Blake said. He said he is unable to go into specifics because the project is in negotiations with Target about how to remove the lamp from the building in New York and move it into Soap Lake.

"There's the cost of taking it off the building and having it removed so that it is done safely and we don't have a problem with it being destroyed in the process," he said.

People in Soap Lake, Los Angeles and several other places are interested in helping the project with expenses, Blake said.

Blake said he would like to have Target participate with the lava lamp project at a higher level as a corporate sponsor, and assist in building "the ultimate lamp, and doing that in a way that would be beneficial to this region."

But he said such a move could set a precedent for Target.

"Target's not sure what role they want to play, if any," he said. "In our minds … this is a great PR opportunity for them. As we transport this out, we could be stopping at Target stores, handing out sample bottles of mineral water from Soap Lake, talking about the project and showing them pictures of what's in the truck. Use it as a promotional opportunity to bring it out here. Target could benefit from that and this region could benefit from that."

Blake said that there is also a concern that because the sign was not built to be reused, it may not be able to be removed in such a way that it can be reinstalled in Soap Lake.

As such, the project is talking with the sign's manufacturers, and is also looking into possible locations where the sign could be put to draw attention from tourists and passers-by and bring attention to the project and the region.

The project to build the giant lava lamp is finalizing its 501-C3 status to ensure that donations are tax deductible, Blake said.

"We're organized on this end, but we recognize that the challenges of getting the giant lava lamp built is money," he said.

Blake said he would have liked to have gotten the project done within three years of the idea's conception, but the turmoil of the country and the poor shape of the state economy have led to bad timing.

"Everybody wants to know where it is and why isn't it done yet, but they're not understanding the total economic aspects of doing something like this," he said.