1996-97 Photos - Demolition of the Balloon Inflation Tower

Balloon launch at Pole in 1977
(above is what it looked like in action in 1977 as captured by Stu Harris,
and here's an interior shot with Lloyd Anderson getting a balloon ready.
In 1977 the main floor was one large room, but the back portion was par-
titioned off a few years later, originally to house the hydrogen generator)

When did the construction of the "new station" begin? Perhaps it was with MAPO and the other science facilities on the far side of the runway...or perhaps it was when ARO replaced Clean Air. Or perhaps it was when the first demolition of the main portion of the domed station began, in 1996-97, as the BIT...followed by the helium/cargo arch...were removed to make way for the new garage arch. What follows is a sequence of photos by Chris Rock of ASA (unless otherwise noted) as the removals got underway.

round and round
First, a couple of final interior shots. The top of the spiral stair...

bare walls
The interior wood paneling (visible in the 1977 interior shot) and insulation has been removed.

corner office
One corner of the main room, showing some of the roof framing unbolted

up on the roof
Getting ready to pull the dome

cutting loose
Removing the guy wires

cats at play
Positioning the sled

rigging
Rigging up...

coming up
It's loose...

up on the roof
looking up inside

looking up
Swinging it away

lowering away
Down easy

coming down
Down easy

down
On the sled to get hauled off to...(stay tuned)

upstairs again
The next step, getting ready to pull the roof off

raising the roof
It's loose

coming around
Coming down....

that's all folks
With the roof off, the inside stuff has been pulled out.

opening up
Demolition of the main tower room continues (I think the
foundation in the foreground is for the new cargo building)
 
opening up
After all of the remains of the BIT were removed, it
was time to start digging out the arch (photo from
Frederick MacDougall)

gone
A bit later, here's the arch all dug out, ready for the
next part of the project.

Paul Siple was here
Remember the radome? Here it is on the berm along
with the extra buildings and fuel tanks (photo
from Scott Smith).
 
Next...the removal of the arch itself.

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