Expo organizers set pavilion building deadline to June 30

So the Shanghai World Expo organizers have set another date for when they will finally say “No way, no how, you're too late to build your pavilion now”: June 30.

From Xinhua:

If they miss the deadline, no pavilions of their own designs will be built, according to the organizers, who added that such exhibitors could still rent standardized pavilions provided by the organizers or use a common pavilion for an entire continent.

The deadline was set with reference to the time needed for the work to be done...

"If work on a pavilion starts after June 30 this year, it can't be completed before May 1 next year. This will affect the operation of the whole world expo park and support facilities," Zhong Yanqun, deputy head of the executive committee of the Shanghai World Expo Coordination Bureau, told Xinhua.

So what does that mean for our rag tag group of friends trying to jump start the U.S. pavilion? We're still not sure!

The USA Pavilion team was recently able to get sponsorship from Dell and the U.S.A.-China Education, Science & Culture Association (along with 3M), but neither new company has disclosed how much of the 60,000 square foot space (and original $61 million budget) they will help to pay for.

According to the South China Morning Post, it's only $1.5 million so far. That doesn't bode well.

While adding two new names on the roster of kindly donors in less than a month at least tells us the USA Expo team is still seriously working on this, three sponsors on a tens-of-millions-of-dollars project is not nearly enough. And so, that plot of land's fate remains betwixt and between even as we quickly count down to the June 30 deadline.