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“When you sit down you literally can’t see anything, so the<br />
boards need to be on at all times,” Levron said.<br />
Levron may develop two modes for the car: float mode<br />
and street mode. During float mode, the vehicle will need<br />
multiple people, including a driver near the floorboards and<br />
actors at the top.<br />
During street mode, the driver would take a seat that can<br />
see over the dashboard.<br />
“This model is the second attempt,” Levron said. “The first<br />
one was too small and it was barely manageable, so this one<br />
is much bigger but it is safer.”<br />
Frank Lloyd Wright<br />
Wisconsin Theater to Be Restored<br />
“My youngest can’t wait to drive it,” Levron said.<br />
Including thrusters, the vehicle’s dimensions reach <strong>11</strong> feet by<br />
20 feet, Levron said.<br />
Sometimes, Levron will work four to five hours a day on the<br />
Landspeeder, others it will be between 10 and 12.<br />
“It just depends on the amount of free time I have on my<br />
hands on an average day,” Levron said. “Lately I have been<br />
traveling a lot. That’s why we haven’t made much progress in<br />
the past few weeks.”<br />
The Landspeeder will be available for rent whenever people<br />
need it for a negotiable price, but it is not for sale.<br />
The goal is to have it as a float for Mardi Gras next year.<br />
The Hillside Studio and Theater at Taliesin will begin an $867,000 restoration<br />
next year. (Photo: © Jeff Dean)<br />
SPRING GREEN, Wis. (AP) — A theater at Frank Lloyd Wright’s<br />
800-acre Taliesin estate in Wisconsin will undergo an<br />
$867,000, two-year restoration.<br />
A $320,000 Save America’s Treasures grant from the National<br />
Park Service, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation and Taliesin<br />
Preservation will be funding the restoration of the 120-yearold<br />
Hillside Theatre, The Wisconsin State Journal reported.<br />
Public performances are held at the theater from May<br />
through early October.<br />
“There’s all kinds of uses for that theater. It’s just elemental<br />
to our living,” said Minerva Montooth, a longtime resident<br />
at Taliesin and the director of social events.<br />
The project will address storm water runoff issues that have<br />
compromised the building’s foundation and exterior sandstone<br />
walls. It will also upgrade the building’s heating and<br />
electrical systems, the entry foyer, the audience space and<br />
the performance area. A green room, bathrooms and storage<br />
space will be added to the basement.<br />
The restoration work will maintain the footprint and cane<br />
marks Wright left in the grout at the entryway to the foyer.<br />
The project will allow for more events on the property and<br />
bring in more people, said Ryan Hewson, the preservation<br />
manager of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, which owns<br />
Taliesin.<br />
“This helps us with our next projects because we’re able to<br />
bring more people here,” Hewson said. “We can springboard<br />
from that and they can experience this the way it’s supposed<br />
to be experienced instead of just coming here for a tour.<br />
We want people to come every summer and visit us multiple<br />
times.”<br />
Work on the project will begin next year.<br />
Volume 83 · Number <strong>11</strong> | 67