2004 Annual Monolithic Dome Tour Opens Doors Across the U.S.
October 18, 2004
by Kris Garrison
The 4th Annual Monolithic Dome Tour, cosponsored by the Monolithic Dome Institute (MDI) and the Monolithic Dome Builders Association (MDBA) attracted visitors from all areas of the country. Monolithic headquarters opened its doors bright and early Saturday morning and had a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. Although the majority of visitors were from Texas, we also welcomed families from Ohio, Minnesota, Oklahoma and Louisiana.
Nearly 50 domes were included on the tour this year including several commercial domes. Each year awareness of dome construction is increased and our website visits and phone call inquiries soon follow the tour.
Steve and Shiela Sullivan of Springfield, Illinois talked non-stop from 8:00 a.m to 4:30 to over 40 visitors. They even skipped lunch to answer questions. Sheila said, "While the numbers weren't huge, they were all genuinely interested in domes." They welcomed guests from Indiana and as far away as Missouri. The Sullivans were very surprised when a small bus arrived carrying a roving TV crew from St. Louis Channel 24. Apparently, they specialize in covering energy efficient homes. They took footage of the dome and talked to the Sullivan's builder, Mickey Ester.
Peggy Atwood of Kerhonkson, New York, an extremely rural area, showed her dome to approximately 60 people. Many of the questions centered around financing. Mason Rumney of Sedona, Arizona had 30 guests with one driving from San Diego, California.
Larry Leitgeb of Leitgeb Industries had approximately 100 visitor and raised over $100 dollars for the Jamie South Liver Fund. Larry reports, "The local paper reported that donations would be accepted for Jamie South, so many of the customers were coming for the cause. One woman gave me $20 dollars for a $2.00 fee." Many thanks to him for his donation!
Mary and Mark Henrikson (Yuma Dome) welcomed 165 visitors, two news crews and the Yuma Daily Sun reporter. Although they didn't receive as much publicity prior to the event as they have in the past, they did get lots of news coverage after the fact, which will undoubtedly increase attendance at open house planned for January to benefit Helping Hands of Yuma.
If your dome was part of the 2004 National Dome Tour, we would love to hear how your day went. Give us a call and share with us your success and/or difficulties. Our goal is to make the home tour better each year, so please feel free to share your suggestions.
Safe Harbor Dome, Checking in
Here's the official report about our open house weekend. We got tons of press from the local and regional area. Debbie was featured on four different news segments on the Monday and Tuesday preceeding the open house on the ABC affiliate WPBF Channel 25 in West Palm Beach. She also did three segments on local radio, WPSL 1590 and WSTU 1450 on the Thursday before. And there was an interview/article in the Palm Beach Post about the dome and the open house on Friday morning.
We had 594 signed in visitors, and this was over the two day period. We raised about $1000 in gross income for the Tropical Farms Volunteer Fire Department, and after expenses [crew and firemen food- 20 people for two days ($179), portable toilet($100)] they received $721.00 in cash.
We had a steady stream of 30 - 40 people at a time in the dome. We were open from 10am to 6pm both days. There were hotdogs and hamburgers available and refreshments too. The weather was absolutely wonderful. There would have been more visitors, but we believe they were home working on their roofs and damage from the hurricanes in the first nice weather we have had.
Most of our friends and relatives took several people at a time through the majority of the dome, then they were brought into the theatre for a Q&A with Debbie. Billy circulated around and answered questions from people about the exterior and landscaping plans. He also took care of our volunteers at the front gate.
The type of visitor this year was vastly different from last year. These people were serious about surviving hurricanes. After all, we have seen four of them in 45 days, and the season is not over yet.
There were about 40 couples/families that were committed to building domes. We will be consulting with these folks about the design/build process here in Florida. We also have inquiries about Jamaica, The Bahamas, California, Georgia and several other states.
We are putting a group of skilled professionals together to help others get their domes built. We will be working with owner/builders to execute their own projects. Billy and I are scheduling meetings as time allows to help people get started as soon as they are ready.
We really appreciate all the nice comments and emails we have received about our dome, thanks to all who came by.
Deborah Razete-Elkins
befilms@bellsouth.net
Related Links:
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Dome Park Place - Italy, TX 76651
Tel (972)483-7423 - Fax (972)483-6662
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