I have been reconstituting the designs I have for such a retreat community and have been doing so in a sketchbook, a much larger sketchbook than the one which was destroyed a few years ago. So I will begin scanning these designs and posting them here, just as a way of making this blog worth looking at and keeping up with.
Clearly, building a community from scratch is not an easy task, but we might be able to acquire property which is not actually from scratch. In particular I refer to a property in the Poconos (which I've mentioned elsewhere) which used to be a honeymoon destination. It is currently abandoned, but has attached to it 40 some cottages spread out on a mountain, a hotel and a restaurant, as well as numerous other outbuildings. This property could be rebuilt into a wonderful destination centered around the arts.
Needless to say we're talking about tens of millions of dollars to do that, so whether or not there is any reality to that thinking, well... that's another question. But it would be an environment which would not be starting from scratch and I do think it could be approached in a rational way. Of course the maintenance costs are another question, but with an outdoor amphitheater where road shows could be serviced and outdoor festivals of various sorts, in addition to a convention centre in the midst of the Poconos, there might actually be a shot of doing it right. There is also the difficulty of working with the mistakes which were made by the people who did build the retreat. Construction techniques and location issues not being the least of them. So, as with everything else, it's easier said than done.
So that one very interesting line of thinking that I will be discussing here. Let's see what comes of it. AG
