EarthPark: Bat Wings And Nautilus Shells

It used to be Iowa Child.

Then it was called The Environmental Project.

Now it's EarthPark.

From Radio Iowa:

Bill Menner, Executive Director of Poweshiek Iowa Development, says they've announced a partnership with Siemens to be the "technology provider" for the rainforest, and have rolled out a name for the project -- "EarthPark."

Menner says Siemens has been in the forefront of the technology industry and that the new developments have been in the works for some time. Grinnell is one of four communities vying for the project.

Menner says the project’s board will make a decision soon. They're still working on the site selection, talking with the four towns interested in hosting the project, and Menner says by the time the board meets next month they hope for a decision. Pella, Riverside and Tiffin are the other three communities in the running.

EarthPark???

Did they nick the name from this concept called Earth Park?

What is Earth Park?

The Earth Park concept is intended to rescue humankind from ecological extinction by means of a mass exodus from the planet. The posulate behind the concept is that ultimately the only workable method to preserve the biosphere of the planet from the alterations of mankind is to remove humanity from the surface of this world. This will produce a sustainable environment that will preserve the biodiversity of the planet for future generations to enjoy.

Since humans are at present entirely dependent upon the terrestrial ecosystem, a transfer to artificial and sustainable habitats will ensure long term survival. This will serve to protect the human species from large-scale disasters, such as nuclear conflict, asteroid impacts, or an outbreak of a devastating plague.

Under the Earth Park concept, virtually the entire human population of the world will emigrate to artificial habitats, leaving the earth as a wildlife refuge that will gradually recover its proper ecological balance and diversity. To be successful over the long term this must be a universal migration, and no pockets of reproductive humanity can remain on the surface of the earth.

Unintended goof or ironic? You make the call.

Actually, the Iowa "EarthPark" already has a web site (Earthpark.org), which appears to be the same as the old Iowa Child web site, and it boasts that it will be opening on Earth Day in 2010.

Within the EarthPark web site is this bullshit from Ted Townsend:

The attractive power in this idea is strong enough to generate financial self-sustainability. Yes, the full range of earned income opportunities should cover annual operating expenses. Moreover, the ten-year economic impact statewide is quesstimated between one and two billion dollars.

Ted Townsend can't get the thing built without a shitload of deficit-funded pork spending courtesy of fauxscal conservative Chuck Grassley. How does he expect over a million people to come to Grinnell or Riverside or some other podunk town to keep it in the black? The Botanical Center in Des Moines has been running $2 million in red ink over the past three years and it has about a half million people within a 30 miles radius of it.

From the press release today:

Project Executive Director David Oman noted that [the project] has a construction and start-up budget of approximately $155 million.

Somehow this project gets cheaper by the year!

Also from the press release:

Grimshaw Architects partner Andrew Whalley, speaking from London, unveiled two exciting conceptual images of what the Project could look like, each based on an inspiration from the natural world—the bone structure of a bat wing and the curvature of a nautilus shell.

Yes, Iowa is especially known for bat wings and nautilus shells.

Maybe Mr Whalley meant these bat wings?