Tuesday, April 24, 2018
The Great American Pyramid artist rendition
If you’re looking for a final resting place that makes a big statement, look no further than The Great American Pyramid. This new exhibitor made a big splash at the expo of the 2018 International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association (ICCFA) convention in Las Vegas.
This structure will be huge: 600 feet tall and and 1,200 feet wide at the base on each side. For comparison, the largest Giza pyramid in Egypt is 455 feet tall and 781 feet wide at the base. The Great American Pyramid will have a footprint of 33 acres and be located on 120 acres just off of Old Route 66 in northern Arizona, close to Holbrook. It will be precisely aligned north/south, just like the Giza pyramids.
The developers tout it as the 8th Wonder of the World. It’s designed to hold the cremated remains of more than ten and a half million individuals. The key is in the purchase of three-foot cubes of concrete, in which cremated remains will be encased. Each cubic-yard block weighs about 4,000 pounds.
Gordon Mickelson, the president and visionary behind The Great American Pyramid, said he was inspired to build this monument to honor his mother-in-law, a wonderful woman who was cremated after her death. “This whole project started out of a labor of love,” said Mickelson. “We started looking at the biggest ways to memorialize somebody in the world, and that was to create a pyramid.”
She’ll have the company of thousands of people who need a permanent final resting place for their own cremated remains, along with the remains of their loved ones. “I realized I didn’t have the money to build my own pyramid. So we decided, through the help of about 10.5 million people, we could build a pyramid together,” Mickelson explained.
The project started in earnest in 2015, with the purchase of land, getting the requisite zoning, and other considerations. They came to the ICCFA convention to let funeral directors know about this unique final resting place option for their client families. Blocks will be sold directly to the general public as well as through referrals from funeral homes and other businesses.
Brickmaster Bill Walker, who’s also an accomplished musician, composer and pianist, explains that the pyramid will be built on the north/south axis. As the structure grows, it will always look like a pyramid. How can this happen? Let’s hope this isn’t some crazy pyramid scheme.
Watch the video below for more details, and visit the website, www.TheGreatAmericanPyramid.com. Let them know you learned about it from Gail Rubin at A Good Goodbye!
Gail Rubin, CT, is author and host of the award-winning book and television series, A Good Goodbye: Funeral Planning for Those Who Don’t Plan to Die, Hail and Farewell: Cremation Ceremonies, Templates and Tips, and KICKING THE BUCKET LIST: 100 Downsizing and Organizing Things to Do Before You Die.
Rubin is a Certified Thanatologist (that's a death educator) and a popular speaker who uses humor and films to get the end-of-life and funeral planning conversation started. She "knocked 'em dead" with her TEDx talk, A Good Goodbye. She provides continuing education credit classes for attorneys, doctors, nurses, social workers, hospice workers, financial planners, funeral directors and other professionals. She's a Certified Funeral Celebrant and funeral planning consultant who has been interviewed in national and local print, broadcast and online media.
Known as The Doyenne of Death®, she is the event coordinator of the Before I Die ABQ Festival. She also hosts A Good Goodbye Internet radio show and produces Mortality Minute radio and online video spots. Her YouTube Channel features more than 400 videos!
Rubin is a member of the Association for Death Education and Counseling, the International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, Toastmasters International and the National Speakers Association New Mexico Chapter. Her speaking profile is available at eSpeakers.com.
Gail Rubin has been interviewed about funeral planning issues in national and local broadcast, print and online media. Outlets include The Huffington Post, Money Magazine, Kiplinger, CBS Radio News, WGN-TV, and local affiliates for NPR, PBS, FOX, ABC-TV, CBS-TV and NBC-TV.
Sign up for a free planning form and occasional informative newsletter at her website, AGoodGoodbye.com.