1995-96 Photos - A new Clean Air

When the original Clean Air Facility was built in 1976-77...it was pretty much state-of-the-art construction...but it got tired over the years. It had walls with thick layers of fiberglass insulation...but the vapor barrier had many holes in it for electrical outlets, cable penetrations, and such. In 1989 or so, CRREL showed up and we drilled through the walls and roof to discover that they were essentially filled with ice. And also...it was getting too small to house all of the NOAA research. So...the third of the four preengineered "blue buildings" (which had originally been purchased for berthing until a new station could be built) was erected as the new Atmospheric Research Facility.
First things first--Dog (Doug Forsythe) surveying in the foundation locations. Actually, the foundation pad had been prepared the previous summer.	The late Charlie Blackmer and Dog bolting the foundation steel down to the timber footings. The dark sector AST/RO building is in the background.
Adding the foundation trusses.	Securing one of the footings after its truss is in place. Not necessarily in order, but here are Jason Neely, Dog (second from left), Mike Troboyavich, crane operator Jeff Matney (in blue jeans and pony tail), and Ethan Hardy.
Setting the horizontal braces between the spread footings. Visible from left: Dog, Ethan, and Mike T.	More foundation adjustment. Folks setting the iron include Mike T (standing) and Charlie.
Jump ahead a bit...here the basic shell is complete.	The rough commute home after work. Don McCreight driving, with Ethan, Jeff, and others.
Some manbasket work. In the back is Don M, with Ray Briggs.	A look inside at the bare walls.
Up on the roof...are Jason, Ethan, and Chris Getz.	Hero shot time after topping out. This is Tim Coffey, the 1995-96 station manager.
Topping out hero shot at the end of summer...this is about how far construction proceeded this season. Chris Getz, Brad (Scar) Pedersen, Dog, Ethan Hardy, Jason Neely. Here's what things looked like at some point during the 1996 winter. CAF (center) was still in use, and ARO (right) would be finished in the next summer. At left is the GASP telescope "six-pack" which would be removed in 1997-98. All of the photos on this page are from 1996 winterover Mike Salasek, with caption help from Doug Forsythe, Randy "Crunch" Noring, and Scott Konu. The facility would be completed, occupied, and dedicated (not quite in that order) in 1996-97.