Photo By John Mahony
Photo By John Mahony
These pages cover the initial construction of the observatory in 2001.
These pages cover mainly the two roll-off-roof buildings.  For details of the dome construction in 2006, skip to here.
Construction

During the following week, the hardware to hold down the second roof was going to be added, but ...
OOPS!
...the wind got there first...  With the roof only loosely held down, a strong thunderstorm blew through and knocked the roof section down.  This roof section includes a short section of wall, and this wall section absorbed most of the damage, so we separated the roof from the upper walls and lowered the top portion, with its 4X4 frame, to the ground.  The wheel frame was rebuilt on top of the lower wall section, the upper wall sections were repaired/ rebuilt, and then the roof was placed back on top.  This was done on Saturday, 6/16.  Also wall panels were added to the first building and underground electrical conduits were laid.  On Sunday the track was installed.  During the following week the roof hold-down hardware was finally added to the second building.
The upper section was rebuilt by the end of the day.
Adding the wall panels.
View of an inside corner showing a hook&eye combination that automatically holds the roof down when the roof is closed.
This half-inch stainless steel anchor bolt goes through two layers of 4X4 and through a hole in the track and into the track support/wall top beam to keep the upper section from moving (which keeps the hooks in the eyes) when the roof is closed.