We are about to see the last of the white exterior. The Dryvit Basecoat application started today. On the right we see Willard Smith of J.C. Jackson Construction mixing up a batch of the basecoat -- a one to one mix of cement and Dryvit polymer.

We are looking at the back (North) side of the building. The upper portions of the building will get a single layer of mesh and basecoat. In the series of images at the left, we see the basecoat trowelled onto the foam, filling all the fasteners and making a smooth finish. A layer of mesh is then placed onto the fresh basecoat, and trowelled into place with a second coat, sealing the mesh inside. After it has set for a while, an additional coat is applied to completely hide the mesh.

When one of the grooves is encountered, the mesh is carefully fitted to the shape of the groove and plastered into place.



Areas requiring special care are done before the main foam is covered with basecoat. On the right we see that the mesh around the windows has been carefully plastered into place before the area around it is covered.

On the upper corners of the building, the medallions are given special care to maintain the definition of the designs carved into them.



Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Downing Planetarium, we find Troy Horne, Steve White and Stanley Ziegler giving a quick tour to Brad Huff, the Science Coordinator for the Fresno County Schools.

The "divots" in the lobby have been replastered for a nice smooth finish. The pillars are ready for paint too. Another visit from the painters should put the lobby into its final form.

The view from the third floor of the Science building shows the basecoat application starting on the East side of the building.

The main action is still on the North side, where the plasterers are coating the lower half of the wall. On the right we see some detail of how the mesh is placed into the decorative grooves that have been cut into the foam.



Two layers of mesh go on the lower half of the building for extra impact resistance. In the picture above, extra-heavy mesh is applied over the previously finished surface and is plastered into place. With the multiple layers of Dryvit basecoat and two layers of mesh, the resulting surface has the feel and durability of solid stone.

Today the East side of the building is rapidly being basecoated. The crew is really getting into the rhythm of doing this now. Put mesh and basecoat into all of the grooves, taking care to preserve the shape of the decoration. Flatten down the mesh edges with more basecoat. Trowel more onto the flat foam in between; put on a square of mesh, then trowel that on with still more basecoat.

The crew has turned the corner onto the front (South) side of the Downing Planetarium. I had finals to give today, so all I have is this quick shot of them working on the corner medallions.

Its getting foggy and cold in the mornings, now. Today is the last day of Fall. The front of the Downing planetarium most of its grooves meshed in. The crew is filling in the squares.

A happy Winter Solstice to all and welcome to Winter. Tonight will be the biggest and brightest full moon to fall on the longest night of the year in the last 133 years. At the Downing Planetarium we are finishing the base coat on the final (West) wall.

Meanwhile, back over on the East wall the cured basecoat is being sanded and refinished with a skim of more Dryvit and cement mix to give it a nice smooth finish. As always, special care is taken on the grooves to preserve their shape.



Inside the Planetarium we find painters and cabinet people have been at work for the last few days.



The columns and walls are being painted. The craftsmen from Galvan Cabinets have been doing the final fitting and finish on our lobby display cabinets.



And, of course, I couldn't let the Winter Solstice go by without recording the position of the slit window spot on the floor of the lobby. You can see the time stamp in the larger image. The time is accurate to the nearest minute.

In the background we see some final work being done on the entrance doors.



On my way home shortly after 5 p.m., I caught the solstice moon just rising over the Downing Planetarium. A small red light on the roof parapet was not Rudolph, but the light on the camera from Channel 26. They were up there interviewing Steve White about this special full moon.

For all you astronomical purists out there, the Winter Solstice does happen on the West Coast on the 21st of December, just by a hair. The official time, according to Astronomy magazine, is 2:44 a.m. EST on the 22nd, which makes it 11:44 p.m. PST on the 21st here in Fresno, California. On the other hand, the Full Moon is at 9:31 a.m. PST on the 22nd, so the Moon in the picture is just short of Full by a few hours. The Moon is closest to the Earth (perigee) at 3:55 a.m.PST on the 22nd. In case you are feeling confused, remember that all of these are on this same night, with the Moon hitting Full after sunrise in the morning. I heard Steve telling the Channel 26 people that this Moon isn't really the brightest in 133 years, but even so, having the Solstice, the Full Moon and lunar perigee happen within a few hours of each other is a rare event.

I my way out to do some Christmas shopping, I stopped by the Planetarium and saw a new color on the walls. The base coat had been completed, and the crew was starting to apply the final finish coat. The first step is shown in the picture at the upper right, where a sand-colored primer coat is first applied to the base coat with a brush. The Dryvit Ameristone finish is then sprayed on, as shown in the picture to the right.



My daughter Kirsten is home from graduate school to spend the holidays with us. I had my wife shoot this picture of the two of us in front of the Downing Planetarium.

Welcome back after a nice Christmas holiday. The temperature is a glorious 65 degrees. As the Klingons say, "This is a good day to Dryvit." The crew is hard at work this Monday, applying more of the finish coats.

We actually have two different applications here. Around the edges of the building we find the rough and sparkly Dryvit Ameristone finish which is sprayed on with this special machine. The entranceways and central fields of each wall are a lighter-colored and sandy-textured material which is trowelled on to give a different appearance.



As I left about 2 p.m., the crew had just started spraying the Ameristone onto the color primer on the front of the Downing Planetarium. There are actually two or three applications of the finish coat, with each allowed to dry before the next coat is applied. This produces a very even and well-textured finish.

The Ameristone has been completed around most of the building. Later this same day they began to add the color field in the center part of the front wall. But look closely at the upper part of the building. The Downing Planetarium sign has been installed.



Inside the Planetarium, Steve White has been incredibly busy installing the cables and electronics that will make the star shows possible. We even found his sleeping bag up on the catwalk when he just stays the night. Steve was kind enough to give my daughter Kirsten and her friend Chuck Waite a tour of the building.

We climbed up onto the catwalk, where Steve explained how projectors would shine through the dome to put images on the opposite side.



We even managed to make it up onto the roof, where Chuck took this picture of the three of us.

My wife and I stopped by the university late in the afternoon on December 31. The site of the Downing Planetarium was very quiet during the last sunset of the 20th century here in Fresno, California. If anyone would like a 1280x960 image (about 220K) of this for a quality printout, click here.

It is January 1 of the year 2000 as I am writing this. I find that I would much rather look forward to all of the children and adults from the Central Valley who will be using this planetarium to look outward at the universe in the 21st century, than to spend time today recording the past.

To see the next series of images, click here.