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Thanks Scott! Just sent my email.

The meetup with the architect is scheduled for Wednesday. Later this week Jarkko will post all the informations and photos. There is a good chance that this will turn into wonderful result.

What is the email address, Scott and/or mnkyface?

That's great news, Henning!
[Who could resist THAT contingency?]

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Inside that quote in that post, Liz:

proposals@google.com

Let's do this, folks.

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So as not to interfere with the bench discussion and updates, I am following up on mnkyface's idea and have started a separate thread to lobby google to make Leonard the subject of the google doodle for his birthday.

Please direct any discussion of the google doodle here: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=35167
so we can keep this thread clean regarding the bench discussion/updates.

Excellent idea!!!

This is an update from Hydra! Henning, Demetris and other friends have had a meeting with Lakis, and yesterday another one with architect Jorgos who has been working on this project.
All photos here were shot by Henning.

Jorgos selected first five possible locations for our bench, all on the road between the Hydra village and Kamini. Hydra's mayor has approved one location (which is also the best, according to our own team currently on the island).
If you walk from the Hydra harbor towards Kamini, passing first Sunset Restaurant, our spot is before Kodylenia’s.

Jorgos suggests that we make use of the natural rocks (Jorgos is in the photo!):



Here is his first draft:



The bench would be combined of natural stones with even surface (not as polished as on the photo but comfortable to sit on) and the rocks behind. There is a wooden strip mounted on the rock, to lean on. Jorgos suggests that a small metal plaque with information is mounted onto the strip. The unified heart will be engraved at both ends of the wooden part. An additional idea is to add a longer metal plate to the rock with the “I came so far for beauty – Leonard Cohen” text (they would like to have it in both English and Greek). All these texts are still tentative, and have to be discussed later in detail, when we know that our project will happen.



Thís would be the view if you sat on our bench, looking towards the Aegean Sea (the Mediterranean Sea) - it's a great place to see the sunset, too!:



Road to the Hydra village:



There are some important things that we have to remember before getting too excited:

- we will need permissions from authorities. The present mayor is already supporting our project (thanks to Lakis!) but he will resign in August, and we don’t know what the next mayor thinks.

- Hydra is an important historical site. The plan has to pass two official instances, the Archeological Office in Athens, and the Hydra Government. The Office is very important in this process, but they don’t charge for the permission. The local Government will charge a fee but on the other hand they probably are in favor of all projects that support local tourism.

- Getting all permissions and also the final, detailed plans approved will take time. It’s possible that the bench will not be ready around Leonard’s birthday, but I don’t think this is a big problem. It would be more important to be able to announce the project, collect the contributions, and make a nice giftbook and presentation of the project for Leonard, with all the names of members and other fans who have participated.

- And one BIG open question is: how much the bench will cost!! We have not yet any estimate of the costs. We can take the next step only after we have got the price and found it to be within our resources. It’s really difficult to make a realistic appraisal of the amount we would be able to collect.

More information will be posted when available!

Thank you to everyone who is working so hard to make this project a reality on Hydra and thank you Jarkko for the detailed update. Fingers crossed the bench gets all the approvals it needs as quickly as possible and that the cost is achievable. Let's not argue too much about the final wording .....

Wendy

I love it all so far! And I will contribute as much as I can. We could possibly also organize various fundraisers?And/ or use a crowd-sourcing site? That is, if it seems too costly..
Thanks for all the great work, team!

Jarkko ~

This is GREAT information. Thanks for the updates in such complete fashion. This is where our well-trained patience will once again be well used.
The site looks wonderful... and it appears the bench would seat more people than originally considered. I was thinking the unified hearts would go on each end of the arms facing out. We'll see how everything transpires, and yes, of course, on the wording

The beautiful location between the two trees also offers shade... and seems such a natural spot for a bench; a spot long-awaiting a bench. I like the idea of the detached wooden back, too. Wood is softer for leaning against than concrete... and it adds to the naturalness. The design is ultra simple and very Zen.

Well done, all the way around. Thanks to Jorgos for his great work, too.

The crowd-sourcing is ALSO a great idea!!!


~ Lizzy

beautiful place, very romantic view (taking into account the sunset there) will be a long list of volunteers to sit there
you are loved ! - everyone who so much trying to complete the project in Greece

B4real wrote:Maybe the stone bench could be placed somewhere along this path, against and blending in with the rock outcrop and facing the sea .....
Jarkko, so many benches! I have to say that I prefer the more natural look.

Of course, I’m really pleased that they are actually going to do it this way!

Jarkko wrote:Jorgos suggests that we make use of the natural rocks .....
The bench would be combined of natural stones with even surface (not as polished as on the photo but comfortable to sit on) and the rocks behind .....
Thís would be the view if you sat on our bench, looking towards the Aegean Sea

Thanks for all the above info and photos Jarkko, it will be interesting to see how it all unfolds!

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Wonderful. Thank you to all involved on the ground.

Patience is what is needed, as it seems quite unlikely to be finished by his birthday-- and in the end that isn't all-important anyhow. Construction projects and red-tape, permissions/approvals on any level take time, and we might be very lucky to see an actual bench there by the end of the year.

Just amazing and fingers crossed that all we go smoothly. Such hard work which is very much appreciated by us all.

Wonderful


Keep us updated