SEATTLE — A Seattle company wants to put a floating sauna in Lake Washington. It would have a wood stove and an upper level for diving, but no toilet. "I think it's kind of cool," boater Pete Dorsey said when KIRO 7 showed him the designs.
Jon Gentry, one of the designers from goCstudio, wants to raise $15,000 from donations online to build it. "We were always passionate about it," Gentry said. "How do you make sure people aren't going to the bathroom on it, aren't using it unsafely?" KIRO 7 asked. "I think that's just going to come down to how it's regulated," he said.
He said he and his partner, Aimee O'Carroll, would oversee the operations themselves or market the sauna to a place that already rents out boats. "So you're suggesting that users would sign out the sauna -- sign a waiver and then put down some sort of deposit?" KIRO 7 asked. "Yeah, exactly," Gentry said. "You kind of hope that people respect the space," he said. "Obviously we're trying to create something special for people to experience and really you just want people to respect that. Hopefully Seattleites will."
Gentry said if he can raise enough money on Kickstarter, an online funding platform, and get the proper permitting, he hopes to build the floating sauna and have it out on Lake Washington by summer. But the city of Seattle said that may be a no-go. Officials with the Department of Planning and Development told KIRO 7 a project like this typically wouldn't be allowed because the operation of a sauna doesn't require it to be on the water.
And while some say it's interesting, like Dorsey, they're also skeptical. "I'd rather go boating than sauna-ing," Dorsey said. "I could definitely see people misusing it - you know, people that want to go out, and party on it and that kind of thing."
Planning officials said Gentry is welcome to apply for a permit and make his case as to why the sauna should be allowed on Lake Washington.
KIRO
