1960
The Climatron opens to the public.

Climatron exterior in the 1960s.

October 1, 1960 the Climatron is dedicated and opens to the public the following day, it becomes an overnight success receiving press coverage worldwide as the "only geodesic dome greenhouse" and also as one of the first computer-designed structures in the world. The structure with its wide open floor plan requiring no internal supports amazes the public and stirs the imagination of those already caught up in the quickly evolving space race of the 1960s between the United States and the then Soviet Union. Dr. Frits Went at the time had hoped that the Climatron would be a structure that lent itself to botanical research as much as horticultural displays with its use of controlled climate zones within the structure. Unfortunately the latter would prevail largley due to the lack of ability to establish and maintain microclimates within the Climatron.