Naked City

First Intel announced it would halt construction on its downtown chip design center after it finished the building's concrete shell, citing short-term economic uncertainty. Then it announced that -- whoops! -- it wouldn't be finishing the exterior after all, leaving a hulking steel-frame monolith in the center of one of downtown's busiest intersections. Just last week, the company announced it would consider selling the building, eventually finishing it, or just making it prettier. So now it's your turn: What would you do with the Intel shell? Would you turn it into a movie set? A hotel for the homeless? A three-dimensional billboard for Kirk Watson's next campaign? Send us your ideas on how to reuse, revamp and revitalize this downtown eyesore no later than April 13, 2001; we'll sift through the responses, pick the most creative, fanciful, and intriguing ideas and run them in a later issue. The grand prize winner will receive a catered dinner for four, courtesy of Chronicle food editor (and caterer extraordinaire) Virginia Wood, in Republic Park, directly across from downtown's most notorious landmark.

Send your ideas (we prefer pictures) to: Intel Contest, POB 49066, Austin, Texas, 78765; or scan and e-mail to erica@austinchronicle.com.