Lava lamp sign engineers to consult with Soap Lake
Assessment 'key' to structure's final assembly
SOAP LAKE — Forget all the king's horses and all the king's men. This weekend, some of the people who originally worked on the lava lamp sign structure, gifted to the city of Soap Lake by Target Corporation, are going to discuss how to put it back together again.
The structure presently lies in pieces on the floor of a Port of Ephrata warehouse. That's where three of the original engineers who provided the structural design, the motion engineering and the assembly-fabrication-installation on the sign, will look things over this weekend.
Brent Blake, president and CEO of the Soap Lake Giant Lava Lamp Project, Inc., said that motion engineer Laszlo Trent Farago, structural engineer Bill Lindau and assembler Chris Perrone will arrive in Soap Lake at about 1 p.m. Friday.
Farago, Lindau and Perrone worked either as consultants or directly with Atomic Props, the company originally contracted to provide the mechanical lamp sign structure for Target Corporation. All three are presently independent from Atomic, Blake said.
"They obviously know everything there is to know about this thing," Blake said, noting that the engineers will meet with him, project interim coordinator Al Lundberg and consulting engineer Dennis Parr to assess all of the parts and pieces, provide information as to what is present and what's missing, and help determine what is necessary to reassemble the lamp and have it ready for installation.
"It was taken apart, and we don't know what kind of condition it is," said Lindau, president of Lindau Companies, Inc. He added that some cutting and welding was utilized to take the sign down from its location in New York City's Time Square.
The engineers' visit will also include visiting potential sites for the sign in Soap Lake.
"The lava lamp was designed for the corner of a building," Lindau noted, adding that the engineers will help determine how to tailor it to the selected location.
"Their assessment will be real key, and will deal, with their expertise, with the structural issues, the mechanical and electrical and then the assembly and fabricating issues," Blake said.
The engineers will be in Soap Lake until around 1 p.m. Sunday.
"It ostensibly gives us two full days at the warehouse to review everything we've got," Blake said. "We've done our own assessments but clearly theirs is going to be more detail, precise and complete.
"They're very interested in our project," Blake said. "It was a project they worked on originally that was very exciting to all of them, very unique. They are very much interested in helping Soap Lake get this up and properly engineered."
Lindau said he was glad that the sign was being used again, as many signs are scrapped after being torn down.
"It's a really cool project," Lindau said. "I think that I would like to be involved, just to make sure it's done right … I really like how the city of Soap Lake has come together. I'm trying to help out as much as possible."
Blake added that the engineers have reduced their normal fees to accommodate the lava lamp project's budgeting issues.
"That's quite a generous effort on their part, to sacrifice a weekend and then come at nominal fees," he said.