Soap Lake, WA's idea to erect a giant lava lamp in the center or town may not be a collective hallucination after all. The latest news is a giant lava lamp really will be in town soon, and could be unveiled as a new tourist attraction at the intersection of Highway 17 and Main Avenue in 2005.

The original scheme to build a 60+ ft. tall glass and metal lava lamp/observation tower, with heated water moving the goo, has been abandoned (the feasibility study alone would have cost $50,000). Instead, Target Corporation has offered to donate and deliver its own fake 50-ft. tall lava lamp from New York City's Time Square, where it loomed on the side of a building as a brand promotion.

The Soap Lake City Council voted to move forward with a plan to move the lava lamp (Target is footing the bill) and temporarily store it. Delivery timing depends on when Target removes the lamp from the side of the building.

When someone offers you a free 50-ft. tall lava lamp, don't complain. But one aspect of the gift from Target was not in the original plan -- this mechanically animated lava lamp displays a large corporate bull's eye logo formed by fake lava goo behind the plexiglass.

Update - July 2005: The giant lava lamp sits in storage in Soap Lake. The town needs $100k to assemble and erect it. [01/03/2005]

February 10, 2012