Scaling the secrets of Jesse Hall dome

by Jon Stemmle

s MU's administrative nerve center, Jesse Hall bustles with activity, its hallways a busy parade of students, staff and visitors; its offices a frenzied world of forms and finance.

Above it all, however, sits MU's crown jewel, a silent, proud dome where another world that few have seen quietly goes on undisturbed. A resident bat will occasionally get curious and venture into the lower region to raise a few shrieks and hide beneath a desk or in a closet. But the two worlds typically never meet even though they are separated only by a steel ladder and an attic door.

Acrophobics beware

A climb into the dome's upper world is not for the acrophobic, and the climber had better be thin and in good shape.

A trip into the dome begins with scaling a common, 5-foot steel ladder that leads to a narrow landing and a padlocked entrance. Once opened, it's then a matter of pulling yourself through the hatch and over the edge into the base of the dome itself.

Going up

As majestic as the outside of the dome appears, the inside is surprisingly barren and unfinished. Open studding, wooden and metal and beams abound, along with planking, plywood and unfinished walls.

The first level's most notable feature is graffiti, according to Patsy Higgins of Business Services, who is Jesse Hall's building coordinator and controls the key to the access door.

Night lights

This massive light at the second level of the dome provides a yellow-tint outside of the dome each night.

A wooden ladder leads to the second level where the most unique features are KBIA-FM's transmitter and a large light globe on a metal pillar. Light from the globe at night provides the inside of the dome with a yellow glow that accentuates the light produced by eight exterior lamps that bathe the outside of the dome in light. These outside lights can be covered with colored theatrical gel that casts the dome in different colors, such as green for Engineers Week and gold for Homecoming.

The windows at this level of the dome are even with the state and national flags that can be seen from the Quad. Each window is opaque — to protect birds from flying into reflected sky — and sealed shut to protect the dome from unwelcome intruders.

"For a time pigeons were a big problem in the Jesse dome," said Julia Curry, director of CF's Custodial and Special Services. "Some of the windows were broken and the pigeons would make quite a mess in there."

Into the darkness

A wooden ladder leads up into the darkness at the top of the dome.

With the exception of a rickety wooden ladder that disappears into the darkness at the very top of the dome, the structure's third level is nondescript. Climbing that ladder leads to the top of the dome, where, with the help of a flashlight, curving steel beams that form the skeleton of the dome are visible.

The top floor of the dome is barren, except for the ladder leading to where the beams come together at a large central ring where each is secured in place with a large bolt.

On this final climb up this last ladder, one must squeeze through the bolts and ring to accesses a hatch that opens onto the very top of the dome. From here there is a breath-taking view of yet another world: the whole of the MU campus.