Steve Machol
07-14-2006, 02:20 AM
About 3 years ago Marlena and I went to visit BioSphere II (http://www.bio2.com/). What a phenomenal feat of human engineering, ambition and ingenuity it was. It was a awesome site to see and walk through. Although it's original missions was over, it was, at that time, still an active Educational facility of Columbia University and housed dozens of Undergraduates and Graduates in the local dorms.
We had heard that a Real Estate developer had bought the 140 acre site and was going to begin building 'luxury' homes there. (Yeah, we really need more of those.) So Marlena and I decided to take our Son and Daughter-in-Law to see it while it was still open to the public.
We went last weekend and, while I'm glad they got to see it, the overall impression was one of sadness and decay. The place was a Ghost Town with no more than a dozen people or so compared to the hundreds that we saw there 3 years ago. All of the support buildings and facilities were shut down and the BioSphere itself had broken and cracked windows.
We only saw three employees our whole time there and you could see the sense of gloom and foreboding in them eyes and voices. Our Tour Guide was the same German Engineer we had 3 years ago and that had been with the project from the beginning. This time the Tour took half the time and he could barely get through it, knowing that his major life's work was in limbo.
At this time no one knows what the new owners will do with BioSphere. I think if they had any interest in maintaining it, then they certainly wouldn't let it fall into the shape it is now.
If you are near the Ticson area any time before the end of August, you should consider taking what may be the last chance you'll ever get to see one of the great human achievements in recent years.
We had heard that a Real Estate developer had bought the 140 acre site and was going to begin building 'luxury' homes there. (Yeah, we really need more of those.) So Marlena and I decided to take our Son and Daughter-in-Law to see it while it was still open to the public.
We went last weekend and, while I'm glad they got to see it, the overall impression was one of sadness and decay. The place was a Ghost Town with no more than a dozen people or so compared to the hundreds that we saw there 3 years ago. All of the support buildings and facilities were shut down and the BioSphere itself had broken and cracked windows.
We only saw three employees our whole time there and you could see the sense of gloom and foreboding in them eyes and voices. Our Tour Guide was the same German Engineer we had 3 years ago and that had been with the project from the beginning. This time the Tour took half the time and he could barely get through it, knowing that his major life's work was in limbo.
At this time no one knows what the new owners will do with BioSphere. I think if they had any interest in maintaining it, then they certainly wouldn't let it fall into the shape it is now.
If you are near the Ticson area any time before the end of August, you should consider taking what may be the last chance you'll ever get to see one of the great human achievements in recent years.