The Phoenix Project is dedicated to providing assistance to people who make a substantial portion of their living or seek to enrich their lives by participation in the Arts Community and have recently experienced some form of crisis or need.

Our first project:
On February 26, 1999, fire swept through a local renaissance faire near Shakopee MN. The damages were estimated at $500,000 by Shakopee Fire Chief Marvin Athmann. Of the 32 booths destroyed, 22 of them were owned by independent crafters, artists, and food producers. Most of them were uninsured. We are here to help them.

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From The Associated Press

Fire at Renaissance Festival, Burns Booths in Square Block

An early morning fire today (02-26-1999) destroyed several structures on the grounds of the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in Scott County this morning. Firefighters arrived on the scene around 3 a.m. and could see the flames from several miles off. The blaze hit in an area of food and craft booths. Investigators have not yet determined exactly where the fire began, but they're calling the fire suspicious. About 100 firefighters from several fire departments battled the fire and had most of it out by 5:30 a-m.

Mid-America Plans to Rebuild Booths

Organizers say this year's Renaissance Festival will reopen in time, despite a serious fire. An arsonist struck the festival grounds near Shakopee early yesterday (2-26-99). The fire destroyed 32 food and craft booths -- about ten percent of the total vendor booths. Mid-America Festivals runs the outdoor event which attracts more than 300-thousand people annually. A spokeswoman for Mid-America says the area will be rebuilt in time for its August 14th opening. Deputy State Fire Marshal Thomas Neudahl says four or five fires were set on the festival grounds. He says he's not aware of a motive. No one has been arrested.

To read more about the fire,  it's effects on people, and to see some pictures of the devastation, click here.

Another set of pictures taken Before and After the fire can be viewed by clicking here.

The State Fire Marshall is asking for the public's help in solving this crime. If you think you have any information that might help, call the Arson Hotline at 1-800-723-2020.

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Some information for crafters and grant fund listings can be found by clicking here.

To see one donation that has been made to the Phoenix Project, visit http://member.aol.com/ilove2lace/phoenix.html

A list of the current officers their contact information can be viewed by clicking here.

By August 26, 1999, 2,105 people had visited this site.
more have been here since that date.

The URL for this page is: https://members.tripod.com/projectphoenix/index.html