September 29, 2002

Doug Clark - Staff writer  
 
Forgive me for believing that those Big Scale days of the Inland Northwest were long gone. But I thought we'd never again see the kind of bold and brawny construction projects that gave us such gargantuan wonders as Grand Coulee Dam, Hanford or the Silver Valley Hazardous Waste Superfund Clean-Up Site. Then along came Brent Blake with a King Kong-sized dream. Blake, 60, wants to build the world's largest lava lamp and stick it smack in the middle of downtown Soap Lake, Wash. He's talking about a 60-foot version of one of those glowing, bubbling blob bottles that became a trademark of the Psychedelic Sixties. Then, like hippies to incense, gawkers will be drawn by the busload to this Grant County burg, 120 miles west of Spokane.
 
This is basically the same kind of tourist enhancement plan Leavenworth embraced when all the residents there one day decided to turn into Bavarians. "Doug, it is an important moment for this project and the future of Soap Lake," Blake wrote to me in a recent letter. "We need to gain ownership of the concept by spreading the word of what we are going to do here to help revitalize this depressed community, and you sound like the right person to assist us in this effort." Oh, yes, Brent, consider me your personal lava lamp liaison to the masses. This idea is so exquisitely frivolous, so delightfully dubious, so monumentally preposterous, so ...
 
How can I say no?
 
After receiving Blake's initial e-mail, I dialed the number he listed to see if this was some kind of Internet prank. Blake answered his cell phone. He told me he was in a car heading to a Seattle baseball game. Ah, a Mariners fan. No stranger to lost causes. Blake told me that his background is in architecture and design. His connection to Soap Lake, he says, is a downtown two story building (the old police station) that he bought not long ago. According to Blake, this lava lamp scheme popped out of his brain during a late-night discussion with a buddy about civic improvement. Soap Lake has the potential of being a funky, artsy community, he says. "That's why this lamp seems like an appropriate idea." (Check out his cool Web site at www.giantlavalamp.com )
 
Soap Lake could use a jump-start.
 
It was once a booming spa town because the high mineral content of its lake water was considered curative. These days, Soap Lake is trying to hang on. But now that Seattle's Space Needle has been sold to that lottery winner named Steve and moved to Moses Lake, a giant lava lamp in Soap Lake would be Grant County's second-biggest tourist attraction. This could spark a flurry of copycat boondock innovation. Reardan, for example, might want to counter Soap Lake by erecting the world's largest peace sign. Coeur d'Alene could tie-dye the trees on Tubbs Hill. For all his enthusiasm, Blake is a bit sketchy on details. He's not really sure how long his venture will take. ("I'd like to have it done before I die.") He's likewise vague about the cost. (Less than $10million, but more than $3million.)
 
Nor does he know if he needs some kind of a licensing agreement from the company that makes lava lamps. And who knows if a leviathan lava lamp will even work outdoors? The heat given off by such a behemoth contraption just might melt any tourist who strayed too close. Then there's the whole issue of selling this thing to the 1,000-plus Soap Lakians. "Lava lamps didn't appeal to me in the '60s," says Soap Lake Mayor Ken Lee, who adds that he's more concerned about removing junked cars and getting the broken streets fixed. I don't know, Brent. By the sound of this guy, you may do better moving your lava down the road a few miles to Ephrata and letting Soap Lake lump it.
 
Doug Clark can be reached at 509-459-5432 or by e-mail at dougc@spokesman.com