Giant lava lamp may light way to Soap Lake

By Linda Ashton
Associated Press

SOAP LAKE -- Brent Blake and John Glassco want to light the way to this small town in central Washington's coulee country with the world's largest lava lamp -- a 60-foot monument to glowing, undulating ooze.

On the web

Town plans: www.giantlavalamp.com

Soap Lake: www.soaplake.com

But don't go pulling out the Iron Butterfly eight-tracks and love beads just yet, this isn't a flashback to the 1960s.

"There's more to it than a lava lamp. It's an economic development issue," said Blake, an architect and designer who divides his time between Soap Lake and Gig Harbor on Puget Sound.

Terry Brewer, director of the Grant County Economic Development Council, agrees. "I think he's right on point there," Brewer said.

Soap Lake, population 1,275, is something of a rarity east of the Cascades, a rural town without a grain elevator or a railroad spur.

It exists as a sort of a faded health spa, with a small, mineral-rich lake that once attracted health-conscious travelers intent on taking the foamy, healing waters and coating themselves with mud.

But the lake, about 150 miles east of Seattle, isn't the draw it was a generation ago, Brewer said.

"Soap Lake has had a shriveling economy for a number of years," he said. "We need someone or something to create the kind of activity or interest to get the little economic engine spinning again."

Blake, 60, and friend Glassco, 54, an environmental services consultant who lives here, came up with the idea on a whim during a late-night chat.

The design and the engineering are fluid right now, with lots of sketches in a book and specs that are uncertain. As proposed, the lamp would be 60 feet tall, with a diameter of 18 feet. The top cap would have a searchlight that would shine vertically and be visible for 50 miles. A catwalk would surround the glass cylinder where it meets the base to form an observation platform.

Blake said he has no cost estimate, but he'd like to have it built in three years. He has enlisted the help of the state Office of Community, Trade and Economic Development to try to make his vision a reality.

George Sharp, a tourism development account manager for the state office, is there to help Blake explore financing options for the project, along with brainstorming ways to have it make money.

"We don't want it to be just like the largest ball of twine -- where you come look and you're done," Sharp said.

Don Davis has one of the few businesses in town that can count on customers in good times and bad, the state franchise liquor store. He also sells bait, tackle, antiques and gifts.

"Of course, the liquor, it holds up," said Davis, who has owned the shop on Main Street for 22 years.

But people on their way to Grand Coulee Dam or Sun Lakes State Park don't usually see much reason for stopping.

It's not for lack of trying. An intimate 144-seat theater is under construction on Main Street for the local Masquers troupe and other visiting performers. There's also the Sun Lakes Photography Festival.

Soap Lake took a shot at a Wild West theme years ago, but the North Cascades town of Winthrop did it better. Two Soap Lake restaurants are boarded up and for sale.

The lake itself and the desert sunshine remain the primary attractions, from the start of fishing season in the spring through hunting season in the fall. Both hotels, the Inn at Soap Lake and the rustic Notaras Lodge, have guest rooms where visitors can choose between fresh water and lake water for their baths.

Sharp believes there are ways to make a 60-foot-tall lava lamp a destination, with changing interpretive exhibits on everything from the geology of the area to natural healing techniques to the history of the lava lamp itself.

"We'd rather have attention for something like this than no attention at all," Brewer said.

Ideally, Blake would like to see Soap Lake end up an eclectic, artsy community.

"There's so much potential here. It's frustrating to walk down the street," Glassco said.

"It just makes you want to make something happen," Blake added.

The city has given its blessing.

"You have really started a wake-up call here and created interest in the community with this idea," Mayor Ken Lee wrote in a letter of support.

Even Chicago-based Haggerty Enterprises, which owns the rights to the Lava brand motion lamp, seems to think it's a groovy plan.

"We would definitely work with them in any way we could to maximize this," spokeswoman Vanessa Patrick said