CASA GRANDE — A little over 27 years ago, ground was broken for an electronics assembly plant on Thornton Road near Interstate 8, at a site now referred as "the Domes."
About 75 people attended the event that included a preview of a Thermoshell dome, champagne and a buffet lunch. Four domelike structures were built. One of them looks like a classic flying saucer.
"I am happy, but I am scared," Patricia Zebb, owner of InnerConn Technology Inc., told the gathering in July 1982. "There is still a lot of work to do. I'll be glad when I see the first board come off the plating line."
That circuit board never was produced.
Zebb planned to move her company from Mountain View, Calif., to the new Casa Grande site, which was to become the company headquarters.
An office was used for a while in one of the domes, but the plant never opened. Long abandoned, the site was acquired by new owners in 2006.
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Nowadays, Realtor Elizabeth Drew has the listing for the Domes. The asking price for the five acres and the four structures with more than 20,300 square feet is $750,000. The Domes, about half a mile from I-8, are owned by Daniel and Karon Peer of Casa Grande. They operate Simplicity Communications Inc.
The ceilings of several domes are falling in and could be dangerous, according to Karon Peer. She said vandals and trespassers have caused problems. Even the "no trespassing" signs are covered with spray paint.
"We would like to sell it," she said. "We do not want anyone on the property, and trespassing charges will be filed."
The owners erected a fence and put a cable across the entrance, both of which have been heavily damaged, she said.
In one incident, she heard that a woman parked at the Domes and let her kids crawl through the fence while the woman sat in a car. Karon Peer does not want anyone to get hurt on the property.
Back in 1982, InnerConn wanted to make circuit boards used in all types of equipment ranging from quartz watches to large computers, Zebb said.
The original site had 135 acres, and the plant would have used 10 acres. The shells or domes were constructed by pouring three inches of polyurethane followed by three inches of concrete against a balloon inside, held up by a steel skeleton.
At the time, each dome cost about $150,000 and construction took about six weeks for each. The domes were built for insulation efficiency and lower costs and construction time.
InnerConn Technologies defaulted on a loan from Union Bank of California in 1983.
Over the years, tales of space invaders and ghosts attracted people from across the United States. The Domes are mentioned on many Web sites. In addition, the Domes became a favorite hangout and party site for young people.
In 1982, the area around the Domes was pretty remote. Now there are signs of growth such as a nearby Walmart Distribution Center, about two miles away.
In 2006, shortly after the Peers bought the property, Pinal County demanded the couple clean it up quickly. The Domes had been an illegal dump site for years, Karon Peer said.
"It has not been a pleasant experience owning the Domes," she added.