Big-Time Players Oversized Monopoly Game To Crown Local Champ, Raise Money For Arts

Illinois tire salesman Roger Craig is in Monte Carlo today, competing for the title of world’s greatest capitalist.

Meanwhile, Spokane Arts Department director Carolyn Frances Lair is scrambling to raise money for a local arts grant program.

What’s the connection?

Monopoly.

Craig, 35, who’s representing the United States in this weekend’s World Monopoly Game Tournament, began his all-expenses-paid odyssey to Monte Carlo by winning a local Monopoly tournament just like the one Lair plans to host Nov. 16 in downtown Spokane’s most prestigious property - the Davenport Hotel.

Parker Brothers, manufacturer of Monopoly, allows non-profit groups such as the Spokane Arts Commission to organize their own tournaments. Usually these fund-raising events net $6,000 to $12,000.

But Lair, displaying true Monopoly-style ambition, hopes to clear $70,000 to $90,000.

Here’s her strategy: Up to 400 contestants, ages 8 to adult, pay $25 apiece to compete. Each game will include three to five players. After 90 minutes, whichever player has accumulated the most assets - cash, property and improvements - advances to the next round.

At day’s end a winner will be crowned, and his or her total assets from the final game will be compared with those of other state tournament winners to determine who will represent Washington at the 1999 national championships.

But that’s just the beginning. Lair has enlisted the help of local artists to craft a 25-by-25-foot Monopoly game board, complete with 2-footlong game tokens, giant dollar bills and poster-size Community Chest and Chance cards.

And she’s inviting local businesses - utilities, railroads, real estate companies (notice any trend here?) - to sponsor various properties around the board.

Lair determined the cost of each sponsorship by adding a zero to the official Monopoly price.

Hence, Boardwalk will cost someone a cool four grand, though other game properties, tokens and cards can be sponsored for as little as $100.

The giant board will be set up in the Davenport lobby, and spectators can watch each game’s progress from the second-floor balcony. Simultaneously, up to 100 other games will be played on regular-size boards donated by Parker Brothers.

So far, reaction within the business community has been enthusiastic, Lair reports. “It’s amazing how many business people I’ve contacted recall playing Monopoly for days as kids and being real passionate about it.”

Lair compares Monopoly’s appeal to that of “The Childhood Express,” artist Ken Spiering’s outsized red wagon in Riverfront Park.

“The wagon touches us at some primal level. So does the game of Monopoly, which was invented in 1936. It’s an icon of our youth,” observes Lair.

It’s also an icon of ruthless capitalism - the game’s goal, after all, is to accumulate wealth while forcing one’s opponents into bankruptcy.

“One of the artists commented that she wasn’t sure she wanted to participate in such a capitalistic game,” Lair says.

“But we have a very capitalistic economy. It’s important that we provide some care and feeding of our local artists, so they can, in turn, contribute to the local economy.

“If the game of Monopoly can encourage people to support something that’s ultimately going to enrich the city,” says Spokane’s arts director, “that’s fine with me.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: For more information about Monopoly tournament registration or sponsorships, contact the Spokane Arts Department at 625-6050.