Its not often a sundial is also a monumental piece of sculpture weighing tons, but that is what developer Fred Steiniger installed this May at the Innovation Corporate Center in Oro Valley, Arizona. Long-time NASS member and professional dialist John Carmichael was intimately involved with the 3-year long project, which is still ongoing. Carmichael still has to install a noon-line sundial. Project completion is sometime this year before the planned dedication slated for noon at Autumnal Equinox.
The dial stands twenty-four feet tall and weighs over five tons, which alone serves to make it quite out of the ordinary. The dial is declined 45 degrees southwest, to increase visibility to nearby traffic, and inclined 12 degrees, at the suggestion of Jon Seeman, an artist who worked along-side Carmichael, putting this sundial in a class unto itself.
According to Carmichael, the dial presented several technical and logistical challenges, not to mention the downturn in the economy which for a time threatened the financing. Luckily, all the obstacles were overcome and the dial is now in place and telling correct solar time to within a small fraction of one minute.
The dial is located on the northeast corner of the intersection of Innovation Park Drive and Vistoso Park Road in Oro Valley AZ, USA. Visitors to the area are encouraged to stop by and take a look.
