Welcome to the NEW South Pole

This view from you know where (courtesy of Carlton Walker, station construction manager for Raytheon Polar Services) shows the new elevated station as it appeared at the end of the 2000-01 construction season. The "beer can" or circulation tower is at left, this contains stairs and an elevator leading to the buried portions of the station and the dome. The station will eventually be covered with a blue facade, the portion covering the first story will be oriented at a precisely calculated angle to minimize drifting under the structure. But according to Carlton, the shipment of this "pretty stuff" has been deferred so as to allow more critical-path materials to get flown in.

What you see here is actually only ¼ of the main facade of the new station. Visible is section A2 with section A1 behind it. A3 and B2 sections are currently under construction to the right. The windows you see on the upper story here are in the new galley.