David C. Eddy has an idea that could put Manchester on the
map.
As you locals know, the town of Manchester, Wash., is a quiet,
little waterfront burgh with a sweeping view of Blake Island and
Seattle and the Cascade Mountains. Eddy envisions a rotating
restaurant along the lines of Seattle’s Space Needle on
Manchester’s waterfront. He calls it “the Space Barge.”
The barge signifies Manchester’s connection to the Navy. As
locals know, the Manchester
Navy Fuel Depot — also part of the Manchester view — is just
down the road. The fuel depot comprises 38 storage tanks with a
capacity for 60 million gallons of fuel and 11 miles of pipeline,
most of it cleverly hidden under the facility’s hillsides. The fuel
depot serves primarily Navy vessels, but also Coast Guard ships and
the occasional foreign vessel.
Like the space needle, the barge would rotate 360 degrees its
topside beacon light flashing in the night sky, Eddy says.
Eddy, an artist, author and economic philosopher, displayed an oil
painting of the Space Barge at a recent art show. The reaction?
“I didn’t really get a whole lot of feedback on it,” he
said.
Funding the enterprise is another matter altogether.
“I was thinking because Bill Gates is local, he may be
interested in funding a major attraction that would represent the
futuristic approach for Microsoft Corporation,” Eddy said. “The
Space Barge would also provide a key player in attracting people to
the West Sound.”
Eddy is “semi-retired” and owns Manchester Ventures, a catch-all
business for his diverse endeavors. Eddy in 1983, published
“Earthland,” about economic theory and “the relationship between
people, their earth, and the delicate balance that makes life
possible.” The book is available at Amazon.com.
Eddy said his interest in economics was sparked by a trip to
China he made decades ago through the People to People ambassador
program founded in 1956 by then-president Dwight D. Eisenhower. He
also teaches Tai Chi.
Mr. Gates, the ball is in your court.
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