My Start Up Dream

I've been holding on to an idea for a while now.  I've shared it with a few select people to gauge it's craziness and people's first reactions.  The initial reactions were positive and no one has thought it was outright crazy, which is good.  The most common response is: that's going to take a LOT of capital to get off the ground.  This is VERY true.  Don't worry though, I'm not going to ask you for money.  I've come to the point where I want to get this idea out there, out of my head (heart) and into the public realm.  Who knows what'll happen next, but I'm excited to see. So what's this idea you say?  It's my own unique spin on a collaborative workspace.

Here are some vision statements:

• I want to provide a place, or places, for a diverse group of people to come together and work collaboratively as they seek to express themselves through the various mediums of the arts.
• I want to encourage collaboration across ethnic, cultural, socio-economic, and linguistic barriers.
• I want the fruit of this collaboration to be a light in an otherwise dark world.
• I want to inspire an appreciation of and desire for diversity and collaboration

On top of this I want to provide access to cutting edge technology and facilities to those who would otherwise be unable to afford or gain access to them.  I want to be a community center where people can host concerts, art shows, parties, town hall type meetings, debates, after school programs, etc.  I want to offer internships to college and gap year students who are looking to gain real life experience in the arts, community building, and culture making.  I would love to provide start-up businesses with the necessary space/tech/freedoms that they need to get their business off the ground.

I'm of the opinion that a place such as this would flourish in center city locales.  A place where cultures are clashing and mixing on a daily basis.  Where diversity is appreciated, where creativity is a natural by-product of breathing.  In essence, I'm looking to build a place where true community leads to collaboration across boundaries.  Where your beliefs, creativity, skills, and passions can be both challenged and encouraged.

This place would have facilities for photography and videography along with appropriate equipment, private workspaces, a large open community workspace, computers for design, publishing, programming, etc, common area and kitchen (good fellowship always happens over food and drink), painting/drawing studio, as well as event space for those events listed above.

What do you think?  Would something like this be viable?  Do you see problems with such a place?