Ten years ago, when the idea to erect a 50-tall lava lamp near Soap Lake, Wash., was first floated, the response was, let’s say, mixed. Target had a very huge, very real lava lamp that the company execs were willing to give to the tiny, poor Central Washington town, but despite scattered enthusiasm and viral publicity, the idea died with a lack of support for maintaining the oversized hippie accessory. Today, the idea is back. But this time with a bit more modern technology than glass and goo.We talked to one of the architects behind the revamped lamp.Austin Kovach and his father Andy of Kovach Architects started working on new plans for the Soap Lake lava lamp last year. Working for free (with the idea that they may be compensated if the project is actually built), the architects recently finished those plans. Austin says that the new model is buildable, maintainable, and ecological. Essentially it would have a base structure accessed by spiral staircase and connected to a tall, lamp-shaped cloth material which, using light projectors from the inside, would give the appearance of the classic bubbling lava of a lava lamp.”We were looking at ways to revitalize the town,” Kovach tells Seattle Weekly today. “It’s about catching people and making them stop, then they can get out, look around, and also appreciate the landscape.” As it stands, the project is designed and has the backing of the local government at Soap Lake. It can be built for around $1 million, about $200,000 of which has been raised so far.Kovach wants another $1 million to build an interpretive trail that connects the town’s two beaches.Though the town’s mayor is behind the idea and most of the 1,700 townsfolk reportedly are too, naysayers still abound, who argue that the idea is either A: stupid, B: an insult to the natural scenery, or C: a waste of money.Kovach says he’s been dealing with the haters for a while now, and they don’t bother him. “No matter what you do there will be naysayers,” says Kovach. “In all of our personal experience of traveling around, there are just so many people who say ‘If you build it they will come.'”Here are some graphics and a basic blueprint for the lamp that Kovach sent over.Follow The Daily Weekly on Facebook and Twitter.