Dome News

Throwback: Why Avalon chose a Monolithic Dome gym

Aerial view of the Avalon Multipurpose Center.

POSTED 29 Nov 2021 By Dave South

Twenty years ago, the school board in Avalon, Texas, broke ground on a new Monolithic Dome gymnasium. It would be more than just a place for playing ball, it became a classroom, concert hall, community center, and — when necessary — a storm shelter. No wonder it’s called the Avalon Multipurpose Center. … read more

Throwback: Houston area church is a dome of many firsts

Flying over the job site reveals the scope of work.

POSTED 1 Jul 2021 By Dave South

Today’s throwback story is from 1984 with a dome of firsts — the Maranatha Church — the first Monolithic Dome over 200-feet diameter, the first dome proving energy savings enough to pay for the building, and the first high capacity auditorium with seating for over 4,000. … read more

Throwback: Breckon Sports Center at Park University’s underground school

POSTED 11 Jun 2021 By Dave South

Today’s throwback is the story of an innovative school with an equally innovative campus — the largest underground educational campus in the world. When the school needed a new gymnasium they sought a solution as innovative as building underground — the Monolithic Dome. … read more

The dome builder workshops are back!

Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop Alumni.

POSTED 3 Jun 2021 By Dave South

It’s back! After a year and a half hiatus, the Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop resumes again in September 2021. Coronavirus restrictions are lifting. Travel is returning. We can finally gather to teach, discuss, and build another Monolithic Dome. … read more

A stunning tour of the red rock Chavez Ranch Road dome home

POSTED 20 Apr 2021 By Dave South

Stunning is the only word for it. It is a massive, red-rock coated Monolithic Dome nestled among the red landscape of Sedona, Arizona. The house contains 10 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms, a fitness room, a theater, a beautiful kitchen, and so much more. … read more

Another workshop canceled due to the coronavirus

Spring 2021 workshop is canceled due to coronavirus

POSTED 25 Jan 2021 By Dave South

We are a year into the pandemic and although the daily news is bad, we have every reason to hope. Two vaccines are approved and more are coming. With every person vaccinated we inch closer to a return to some form of normal life. Patience is required. We would love to start holding the Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop again, but it’s not yet time. For the sake of our customers and staff, the Spring 2021 Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop is canceled. … read more

Obituary: David Barney South, 1939-2020

POSTED 3 Nov 2020 By Dave South

We are sad to announce the passing of David Barney South Sr. — husband, father, entrepreneur, and inventor. David was married to the late Judy Lynne South (née Bates), and they raised nine children together. He co-invented the Monolithic Dome with his brothers, and they built a new construction industry. … read more

Dome construction is nearly complete for Las Vegas gypsum storage

POSTED 11 Sep 2020 By Dave South

Shell construction is almost complete for a large gypsum storage east of Las Vegas, Nevada. Pabco Gypsum is a vertically integrated mining and manufacturing facility that produces 110 million square meters of drywall per year. The new dome replaces a 50-year-old steel dome. … read more

TBT: The past and future Johnson Creek School

POSTED 30 Jul 2020 By Dave South

Today’s Throwback Thursday is a bit different as we look to the past and the future in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin. In 2016 the Johnson Creek School District opened a five-dome school to serve as the combined middle and high school. The small district of 750 students was dealing with old school buildings plus a hodgepodge of additions and portable classrooms. The maintenance costs were increasing and they needed something new. They tried several times to pass a bond to build a conventional school, but each time the voters rejected it. So they sought for a more innovative, affordable solution and found the Monolithic Dome. … read more

Fall 2020 Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop canceled due to COVID-19

Monolithic Dome workshop graduation photo

POSTED 3 Jul 2020 By Dave South

We live with hope for a better future, yet we need to recognize the realities of today. COVID-19 cases are surging in Texas and across the US. There is no reason to believe the coronavirus pandemic will end anytime soon. We must accept that this is our new “normal” and plan accordingly. To that end, we are canceling the Fall 2020 Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop. … read more

TBT: The Lincoln County Farm Center

POSTED 28 May 2020

Today’s Throwback Thursday is the Lincoln County Farm Center on US Route 66 in Chandler, Oklahoma. It’s home to the first Monolithic Dome fertilizer storage project — built more than 40 years ago in 1978. In 2011, the storage dome was covered with stainless steel and in 2015 they built a large, Monolithic Dome ranch store. … read more

‘We're Going in Oklahoma’ tours finished Eagle Event Center

POSTED 26 May 2020 By Dave South

The Eagle Event Center in Hennessey, Oklahoma, is finished. Hennessey Public Schools received the Certificate of Occupancy, and the new building is open — just in time for tonight’s graduation ceremony. Superintendent Mike Woods recently gave Jack Quirk of We’re Going in Oklahoma a tour of the new facility, and we get to tag along in the newly posted video. … read more

TBT: We revisit Shalom Dome

POSTED 9 Apr 2020 By Dave South

As we migrate content from our old website we feel it’s time to start our own version of Throwback Thursday. This week it’s the Shalom Dome home in Platte City, Missouri. Completed in 2017, the 3,000 square foot house features three bedrooms, three bathrooms, office, home theater, loft, and a beautiful great room with kitchen and dining area. The unique shape of the Monolithic Dome combines orion-style stem walls with a multi-dome shaped Airform. … read more

Spring 2020 Workshop is CANCELED

POSTED 14 Mar 2020 By Dave South

The Spring 2020 Monolithic Dome Builders Workshop is canceled due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19). Everyone who signed up will receive a full refund. There are persuasive arguments that we should be proactive in limiting the spread of the virus. We can either voluntarily choose to sacrifice events and travel now, or the virus will likely force painful restrictions in the future. We choose the former for the sake of our workshop attendees and our staff. Hopefully, if we all work together, we can host the Fall 2020 Workshop in September. Thank you to everyone who signed up. We also thank everyone for fighting this pandemic and pray for those suffering from it — may they receive the care they need and recover quickly. … read more

Time-lapse of large ammonium nitrate storage inflated in Elkhart, Texas

POSTED 13 Jan 2020 By Dave South

It’s Monday morning, January 6, and Wayne Norsworthy with El Dorado Agricultural Products flipped the switch to the inflator fans. A 115-foot diameter by 92.5-foot tall Airform began to inflate. Soon, the tallest building in Elkhart, Texas is a Monolithic Dome Airform. … read more

Monolithic granted patent for Transverse Airform pattern

POSTED 10 Oct 2019 By MDI News

The offer for a commemorative plaque always arrives first when a patent is granted. The plaque company usually beats the patent office by a day or two. It’s an effective marketing strategy; after all, Monolithic has five of these plaques. Now there will be six. A couple of days later, the official notice from the United States Patent and Trademark office arrives. Monolithic Constructors, Inc., is granted patent number 10,400,462 for the “Transverse Span Airform Structure.” … read more

Luxury eco-tourism dome hotel coming to Costa Rica

POSTED 10 Oct 2019 By Dave South

A dome hotel is opening in Costa Rica this December. The IGLOO Beach Lodge is a series of individual Monolithic Domes surrounding a swimming pool. Each dome is a room with one or two beds with a huge windowed entryway. Vines will grow over the shells to complete what is billed as a luxury eco-tourism accommodation. … read more

Ohio opens first tornado shelter at Delaware State Park

POSTED 26 Aug 2019 By Dave South

Ohio is probably not the first State people think of when discussing tornadoes. Oklahoma or Kansas are more likely to provoke visions of violent skies and Dorothy running for the storm cellar. Yet, 36 tornadoes already struck Ohio this year — double the total tornadoes in 2018. “We are not dealing with a theoretical hazard,” said Sean Miller at the open house of the new Delaware State Park Tornado Shelter. “This is a very realistic hazard … and campers are vulnerable.” … read more

The ‘spaceship’ house for sale again in Colorado [SOLD]

POSTED 20 Aug 2019 By Dave South

Architect Jason Elliott Purdy designed the “spaceship” house for Clarence and Louise Lederhos who constructed the dome in 1978. “For some reason, I always wanted to live in a round house,” said Louise Lederhos in an interview. “But it was the energy efficiency that drew us to this design.” In 2016, they sold their home. Today, it’s on the market again. … read more

Student prank covers MIT Great Dome with Captain America’s shield

POSTED 10 Jun 2019 By Dave South

MIT students hacked the MIT Great Dome by turning it into Captain America’s shield in honor of Avengers: Endgame. Students carefully covered the dome with a fabric “shield” on Saturday, April 27, 2019, during the opening weekend of Endgame. MIT sophomore Raymond Huffman shot a drone video of the shield on Sunday morning. By Monday, the shield was taken down. … read more

Fantastic Colorado dome home with indoor salt-water swimming pool for sale

POSTED 5 Jun 2019 By milehimodern

There’s a palpable “wow factor” to this home. Surrounded by a sense of pleasure and possibility, the structural roots of this monolithic dome home define its genius. The brainchild of aeronautical engineer Chris Barnes, the dome was built intentionally to be a showplace for modern design, energy efficiency, optimism and individuality. … read more

Anonymous donor gifts dome gymnasium to Idaho community

POSTED 30 May 2019 By Dave South

Thanks to a generous, anonymous donation the community of Hansen, Idaho, has a new gymnasium. The Hansen School District owns the 120-foot diameter monolithic dome but shares it with the city. “This is a unique facility,” said Superintendent David Carson at Friday’s open house. “It’s a community school district partnership. Both entities will be able to use it — a lot.” … read more

Dave and Mary Spellings’ Palapa Pineapple taking shape in Belize

POSTED 21 May 2019 By Dave South

Interior construction is underway for Dave & Mary Spellings’ Monolithic Dome home — the Palapa Pineapple — in Belize. Dave Spellings said he got the idea about 25 years ago when he visited Ivan Sheinbaum’s Xanadu Resort on Ambergris Caye in Belize. “I wanted a smaller, more unique shape, with one room on top of the other. I squeezed the dome into the shape it’s in.” … read more

Monolithic Dome cameo in upcoming ABC TV show

POSTED 16 May 2019 By Dave South

A shoutout for the Monolithic Dome making a brief cameo in the trailer for ABC’s new show, Stumptown. The trailer clearly shows the cement storage facility built for Lone Star Northwest, Inc. on the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. … read more

Obituary: Judy Lynne Bates South, 1940-2019

POSTED 27 Feb 2019 By Dave South

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Judy Lynne South — loving wife of David B. South and beloved mother of ten. She died in Waxahachie, Texas, on Monday, February 25, 2019. … read more