Stepan Center is a multi-purpose geodesic dome built in 1962 at the University of Notre Dame, and is located on the northeast corner of campus. The $350,000 to build Stepan Center was donated to the university by Alfred Stepan, the founder of Stepan Company, and his wife, Mary Louise.[1] The architect firm credited for the design is Ellerbe Associates, a Minneapolis, Minnesota based architectural firm, who handled a substantial amount of Notre Dame projects in that period.[2]
The dome consists of 600 sections of aluminum, and weighs 127 tons.[2] The facility, which was one of the first geodesic dome built in the United States, has 21,000 square feet (2,000 m2) of floor space, and a seating capacity of 3,000. The center attracted widespread attention at its opening, according to a 2022 Notre Dame Magazine article.[2] Time Magazine described the structure as resembling "a giant, gilded armadillo shell".[2]
- ^ Chase, John (22 October 1998). "Mary Stepan: Walked With World Leaders, Put Family 1st". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 13 June 2013.
- ^ a b c d Fosmoe, Margaret, ed. (10 May 2022). "Life Under the Dome | Stories". Notre Dame Magazine. University of Notre Dame.