A massive sundial more than three years in the making was installed last week at the Innovation Corporate Center in Oro Valley.
The whopping 10,600-pound Oro Valley Sundial sits at the northeast corner of East Innovation Park Drive and North Vistoso Park Road at the professional office park.
Venture West, a local real-estate development and construction company that developed the Innovation Corporate Center, commissioned the piece of public artwork for the site.
Private-sector companies that build in Oro Valley are required by town code to put one percent of their project's total cost toward public art.
Venture West worked with California artist Jon Seeman and sundial-maker John Carmichael to design Oro Valley's newest timepiece.
To pull off the project, help also was sought from Tucson-based CAID Industries, who assisted with the fabrication and installation of the sundial, and design firm M3 Engineering, who helped with the structural calculations.
People are also reading…
There's still work to be done on the project.
"It's a double sundial and the second sundial hasn't been installed," Carmichael said.
The main sundial, which was installed May 12, measures the time, and the second sundial will measure the date when it's installed sometime this summer.
The Oro Valley device is as unique as any he has done in his almost 20 years as a sundial maker, said Carmichael, who lives in Tucson.
He has sundials at the University of Arizona, Tohono Chul Park, Tucson Botanical Gardens and throughout the country.
The technical name for his latest device is an "inclining-declining" dial, Carmichael said.
Oro Valley's sundial tilts backward 12 degrees, and faces the southwest.
Odd angles and shapes also give the 24-foot sundial and pedestal a distinct design.
Arizona's year-round sunshine is the perfect setting for sundials, Carmichael said.
Everyone involved with the project said it was laborious, but well worth it.
"The public reaction has been swift and positive and we are gratified to have been able to bring this iconic work to Oro Valley," said Fred Steiniger, a partner at Venture West.
See Sundial, Page 24
Sundial
From Page 21
"The public reaction has been swift and positive and we are gratified to have been able to bring this iconic work to Oro Valley."
Fred Steiniger,
partner at Venture West
Contact reporter Andrea Rivera at arivera@azstarnet.com or 807-8430.
