Spaceship Horse Arena "Landed" In Ohio

Spaceship Horse Arena Landed In Ohio BUILDINGS Maintenance “The Mothership” is one of those landmarks that grabs your attention The 100-ft dia round structure seems out of place on an Ohio horse farm That’s because the spaceship-style roof actually came from a water treatment plant’s sewage tank     Dave and Jackie Smith had talked about building an arena and Dave recognized the potential right away when he saw an ad offering 18 water treatment tank covers for $5 000 each They had been removed from Akron Ohio’s treatment plant after an upgrade and the contractor decided to try to sell them before taking them to the landfill What Smith didn’t know was that his estimated $30 000 arena would end up costing $46 000 That still turned out to be a heck of a deal considering what could have gone wrong     “If we’d have damaged a panel the whole thing could have been a bust ” Smith says explaining that the covers cost municipalities between $300 000 and $325 000 which would have made a panel expensive to replace “But I did my homework and hired the right people and I’d do it again ”     He hired a company to transport the panels in five loads on a 48-ft drop deck trailer and stack them on his farm late last year The 34 50-ft long pie-shaped panels weighed more than 18 tons     In March Smith dug footings and a foundation to support 1-ft thick concrete walls It took 162 yards of cement for an Amish crew to fill the 10-ft tall wall forms After letting the concrete set for three weeks Smith hired a crew with a 100-ft boom to set the panels     Each panel was guided into place with the crane cable hooked to the ring on the center of each panel and a person on the ground with a rope attached to the bottom end One stainless steel all-thread bolt was drilled and epoxied to the wall for each panel During the process a tractor bulldozer and excavator were used for various tasks and to hold panels securely as more panels were added and wiggled in place To place the last one required removing the 13-ft door header and bringing the panel up from the inside with the use of the crane and loader tractor to tilt it in place After placing the top cap additional bolts were added to secure the roof     “Once together the panels are quite rigid ” says Smith An engineer told him that the roof is designed for a heavy snow load and won’t blow off in strong winds     Every other panel has a 3 by 3-ft opening He plans to cover them with plexiglas sheets for the winter During the summer the openings let in sunlight and circulate enough air to keep the temperature 5 to 8 degrees cooler inside than outside Smith figures covering the openings and installing a vinyl strip door will also keep the building warmer than the outside in the winter     With a 25-ft height from the floor to the top center the building has a “wow” or cathedral effect Smith says With 140 tons of limestone sand spread for a floor it’s been a perfect training arena and will be suitable for equine eventing competitions and clinics that the Smiths host     Because the panels were used on the final phase of treatment there is no odor Smith notes so the panels could be used for almost anything     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Dave and Jackie Smith Stone Gate Farm 31407 Schneider Rd Hanoverton Ohio 44423 ph 330 222-2089; www stonegatefarm org

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