I returned after a week's absence to find the flat parts of the roof going on and many interior portions well on their way to being finished. I was invited to climb the ladder to get some pictures of the roofing process, but prudently declined.


The other new feature visible in the shot above is the framing for the front "window." Given the Southern exposure of the front of the Downing Planetarium, the floor-to-ceiling windows once envisioned here would have fried the interior with solar energy. Instead we have a solid wall with this inset bay which will hold a long slit of glass with a colored square just four feet from the floor. The colored square will move along the floor with the Sun and will trace out time and date on the lobby floor. Stay tuned for more on this unique feature.

Mike Martinez is cutting drywall for installation in the West corridor.




Mike Wyllie, of Wyllie Construction, is shown at the right standing on the catwalk. He told me that all the interior carpentry work is essentially finished with the completion of the catwalk. The picture above shows how it is suspended by long threaded metal rods that extend all the way to special supports in the ceiling of the Planetarium.


Much of the drywall has been installed in the West corridor. Work on the ducting for life support (heating and air conditioning for the less space-minded) continues, with major portions of it now in place. The picture to the right is a vertical composite showing the Resource Center on the North end of the building.

The exterior shows that the edges of the room have had the shear panel added all the way around. Fresno Roofing continues to lay down the flat portions of the roof behind the parapet wall. The front slit window has been paneled in. Since this picture was taken around 9 am, the Sun has yet to make an appearance through the slit.

The most dramatic inside change over the last two days has been the installation of the soundboard around the entire perimeter of the auditorium. If we had the dome in place, this space would start to look like the finished product. On the right, Kurt Zumwalt, the General Contractor for the Downing Planetarium, discusses construction progress with the Site Supervisor, Troy Horne.

Nearly the entire ceiling of the planetarium has been covered with insulation. Today, more insulation is added to the walls inside the auditorium.



Work continues on the maze of wiring inside the planetarium. The solid metal conduit will hold power lines for lights and equipment. The plastic pipe will hold data, communications, telephone and speaker wires.

In the view of the Resource Room on the right, we can see the numerous power and data connections required to serve the computers that will be here. On the floor we can see the ladder that will lead up to the catwalk from this room.

No building ever has enough storage space. This little odd-shaped room between the resource center and the auditorium will someday be crammed with stuff. I grabbed this shot to show what lies behind the walls.

Fresno Roofing is just about finished with the flat part of the roof. In the telephoto shot on the right we can see the tar applied and some of the rolls of roofing material.

As I entered the planetarium auditorium, I found I was just in time to record the last natural light to come into this area, except for the normal doors. The workers from Sacramento Insulation were about to install the remaining insulation at the lobby end of the auditorium.




The lobby area is still brightly lit by the two large openings at either end. These will eventually be glassed in. Westek Electrical is working on the electrical connections to the lobby while Burns Construction begins work on the drop ceiling.

In the picture on the right, we see (from top to bottom) Waraqa Howard, Andrew Michael, and Mike Martinez installing metal studs for the curved portion of the lobby ceiling.

After two days we see a few visible changes on the roofing job. (No, I haven't gone up the ladder to see what is happening behind the parapet.) We see some sort of facing on the wall beneath the roof on the East side of the building.

Yesterday and this morning the construction crew spent most of their time putting in a lot of sheet rock in the auditorium. Because this room in now all enclosed, construction lights have been strung. You can see all of the components of the inside of the wall in the picture on the right. First we have insulation, then sound board, then sheet rock.


When I arrived this afternoon, Mike, Andrew and Waraqa were back at work on the lobby ceiling. The curved portion had been completed two days ago. Today they were putting in the straight portions on the front (South) end of the lobby.

As I arrived on the site about 10 am today, Fresno Roofing had completed the job and were cleaning up. By the time the picture on the left was taken, they had left the site. You can see the heavy grey composition roofing material that now covers the tar wash on the flat part of the roof. Rain from the peaked portion of the roof will gather in this area and then drain away through pipes down to the ground. The whole area will be inspected and leak tested in due course.

To the West of the Downing Planetarium work has begun on the "flatwork." This includes the sidewalks and other concrete work that will surround the planetarium itself.



When I first walked into the planetarium this morning I was greeted by a puddle of water on the floor. They had just completed leak testing the plumbing, and a few joints needed some work. On the right Bill Schmidt of MJB Plumbing is making the repairs.

Inside the auditorium and in the hall outside (inset) we see some more of the air handling system being installed.

Out in the lobby work continues on the metal studs for the ceiling. Sheet rock is also being installed on the walls.