For weeks they had been creating the canvas without any firm idea about the subject of the piece. Once a few ideas were set, things seemed to snap a little more into focus. The artists could now picture the dome as a center, a focal point. This should have made all the difference.

From there they would get ideas about what the rest of the building should look like. The earliest proposal questioned whether there should be a ‘rest’ at all. It was just the bare dome sticking up out of the ground. Casey rejected that as looking too apocalyptic. People wanted to go there and be amazed, not frightened.

The next round of proposals all looked like state Capitols. They would all have the open rotunda under the dome. They would have elements representing the state of Michigan. Casey counted himself as lucky that they didn’t have two open auditoriums and office space for the pols. This would still need some work.

The Icicle garden soon became a very popular idea. They hired an artist who worked with metal to experiment and find out what he could do to create new and different ice forms. He was given access to some freezer space to speed him along. He played with dangled wire and small bowls and found some truly amazing things.

They teamed him with an architect and they soon developed what looked like an undressed frame of a building. There were larger corner posts and pipes that ran across like rafters. Along the ‘walls’ were bowls that collected snow. There it would melt and the water would run to various points, to develop into icicles. By training it down wires they could make unusual and startling shapes.

It worked well under controlled circumstances and they were confident that it would also work in the wild. The greatest thing about these sculptures is that damage would be part of their design. That would allow the newer icicles to take shape. It had a wintery Zen feel to it.

They weren’t sure what to do with this space during the summer. The sensible approach would be to make it into an actual garden. They could grow flowers in the open spaces that the icicles would dangle over. They could even use the permanent structure for irrigation if needed.

Casey liked the idea of some park space. They should have places where people could sit under trees and enjoy the day. He was sure that the dome would glitter nicely in the sun. The whole scene would look very nice on a poster.

Would it sell? There was one good source to get some background on that. On his next trip north to the site, Casey told his driver Naveep what they were planning. The man seemed impressed by the icicles. When asked about the dome he said he’d have to see it. It’s a big thing to ask a man to let something else be greater than one of his cultures icons. Reserving judgment seemed the very least that he could do.

There was still work to be done but Casey felt like the pieces of his Wonder were falling into place. If he could only get the central theme in place… It would be called the Winter something or other. No one knew the rest yet.