Reposted from MI_BM (yahoo groups):

In 2005, David Best and Larry Harvey came to Michigan and they got all excited about the potential for doing a big project here.

This week, David came back, this time with Leslie Pritchett of the Black Rock Arts Foundation. Michigan burners started planning with them to build a temple in Detroit next spring.

So, yes, it's a real project now!

Here's the short version of what happened, what we all need to know, and what we need to start doing (and keep in mind that 'temple' is just an easy working title):

Monday night a few dozen burners braved the exciting weather to meet with David and Leslie and talk ideas. We sketched some things, wrote down some ideas, and listened to David speak eloquently about the power of these projects. The excitement was palpable as people began to picture a Best type of temple
images.burningman.com/index.cgi

in Detroit! Wonderfully, some of those present at the meeting were coming to meet everyone for the first time, so we had a cool mix of old hands and new faces (can I say that?).

Tuesday: Nitty gritty. If we are to build a temple in these parts, it has to be in the City of Detroit. As Psytex put it, it has to be somewhere, as in the desert, where you would NEVER expect to see something so beautiful, so inspiring. So we gave David and Leslie a Power Tour. Northwest Detroit, the industrial zones, Cass Corridor, Theatre Bizarre - they saw a lot. We talked about the good and bad of each area, too. For instance, if you put a temple in a waste zone, who will take care of it? If you build it in a neighborhood that's already strong, aren't you helping those who need it less?

Tuesday night we spend in a small group, writing down what we know and what we don't. I'm putting a file up here shortly that shows our notes.

Next:
Phase I - starting now, we are organizing a basic project plan so we can go after major arts funding. Although the temple will ideally be built with recycled materials, there are plenty of real costs involved, and we actually don't have that much time to do this. If you have experience with grants and planning major projects, here's how you can help this temple right away! Included here is some web work, working on a budget, and other office-y things.

Phase II - designing and finding materials that fit the design. This is actually already underway - we all think about what we think it should be like. A temple all of car parts? Could be. That requires a structurally sound design and a lot of car parts!

Phase III - David will come back in April to help finalize plans, teach building methods, etc. The weather breaks, we do site preparation, train volunteers, organize our materials, etc.

David knows the best about organizing, designing and building this sort of thing, but this absolutely demands our input on every level. All of this community's ideas are important at every stage! He'll be here to help at some points, but this is OUR baby. And just like a temple on the playa, each of us will be building it for our own reasons, with our own inspiration. I think everyone knows the feeling of putting the finishing touches on something personal. This is personal.


May 2007 - temple building - date TBA. Think of it as a two week hands-on barn-raising that you'll see in the news everywhere, and that you'll never forget.

Kurt
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