Glass Dome
What John Denver concert was done in the glass dome outdoors ?
The biodome at the Seven Springs Center in Haywood County catches the eye: it’s a 50-foot-diameter geodesic dome made of glass. It is the structural legacy left by singer and songwriter John Denver and Windstar.
The concept of a crystal-like geodesic dome was a spinoff of the work done by Buckminster Fuller, called Deresonated Tensegrity Structures. His work set the stage for the 1982 wood frame prototype and the 1986 aluminum biodome built on the Windstar property in Colorado. Windstar was started in the 1970s by co-founders Denver and Tom Crum. During the 1980s, the foundation hosted educational programs on alternative technology and gardening.
The biodome in Haywood County was designed and built by John Katzenberger. Katzenberger is currently the director of AGCI, an organization “which furthers science and education about science related to global environmental change.” Prior to that, he served Windstar and its mission to demonstrate appropriate technology and organic food production.
It was in the 1980s that Katzenberger coined the phrase biodome. Fuller was aware of the concept and endorsed it. He died, however, before the first biodome was fully operational.
“This was just after the oil crisis of 1973 and 1979, and many people were interested in way they could do to their own homes so that they would use less fossil fuels. To grow food in the high mountain environment required the introduction of various solar heating techniques to increase the growing season, such as solar cold frames and greenhouses designed to retain heat better than a typical greenhouse,” said Katzenberger.
The first biodome measured 25 feet in diameter, while the second more sophisticated biodome was 50 feet in diameter. In 1986, while the second biodome was under construction, Katzenberger and crew were visited by Hans Keller from Waynesville. Keller arranged to have a similar biodome built on his property in Haywood County. That project was completed the same year and turned over to Keller for maintenance and operation.
It was a pilot project, the first of 10 biodomes of different sizes in different climates to be evaluated to determine how to refine the growing system. The Waynesville biodome was originally a three level structure designed to be a sustainable, year-round food production site. Each element of the project would feed another. It would prove that food production in an organic, sustainable manner as a viable option.
“I think it was during the summer of 1987 that John Denver was in the east to film Foxfire. During this time he visited the Waynesville biodome to coincide with a public open house hosted by Hans Keller. At this point, the Waynesville biodome was just beginning to produce food. A project of this scale requires nearly a full-time gardener also adept in aquaculture. How long this was kept up by Hans I do not know,” said Katzenberger.