stands atop a 10-foot-tall poured
concrete support wall and spans 145
feet in diameter. It comprises 625
diamond-shaped aluminum panels,
ranging in size from 7.5 feet to 11.5
feet and weighing between 60 and 70
pounds, according to the former Gold
Dome building’s website. Over time,
much of the panels’ gilded finish has
weathered away, while the aluminum
struts have oxidized to white from
their original black, and later gold,
color.
Unlike past owners, TEEMCO realized
that “the building will not function
economically as a multitenant space,”
Lorson says. However, as the owner
and tenant of the building, the
corporation could justify purchasing
the building and the “premium we’re
paying for the opportunity to preserve
the historic structure,” he says. “You
can’t really put a price on that.”
Lorson declined to disclose the
d e t a i l s o f T E E M C O ’s p u r c h a s e i n
part because the sale is ongoing.
The dome occupies a 2.5-acre
site. Counting the building footprint
and adjacent area for staff parking,
TEEMCO expects to use about half
of the parcel. It is working with Box
to rework the remaining property for
redevelopment.
future fundraising events, such as the
forthcoming groundbreaking. Initial
beneficiaries will include tornado
victims and a woman in need of a
kidney transplant, whose mother is
a neighbor of Lorson.
TEEMCO is currently interviewing
f i r m s t o d e s i g n t h e b u i l d i n g ’s
renovation, which it plans to
oversee. Lorson expects the initial
phase of work—to make the building
suitable for occupancy—will begin
in early September and wrap up by
Thanksgiving.
The firm intends to put the Gold
D o m e ’s f a m e t o g o o d u s e . T h i s
spring, it established the TEEMCO
Foundation to support the health,
education, and welfare of local
residents in need. Lorson hopes that
the building will become a “celebrity
that serves as a drawing card for the
foundation,” and attract crowds to
Source:
L a u , W. ( 2 0 1 3 , A u g u s t 1 5 ) . F o r a
Route 66 Icon, the Future Looks
Golden. Architect Magazine. Retrieved
J u n e 4 , 2 0 1 4 , f r o m h t t p : / / w w w.
architectmagazine.com/adaptive-reuse/
teemco-purchases-the-gold-domebuilding-on-the-historic-route-66.aspx
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