"Either war is obsolete or men are."

History of RBF Dome NFP

RBF Dome NFP was formed in 2002 by a small group of local volunteers that believed that the Fuller Dome Home in Carbondale, IL was an extremely important historic artifact that ought to be preserved for the appreciation and education of future generations. Our official formation was on July 16, 2002. In September of 2002, H.F.W. 'Bill' Perk, colleague of Buckminster Fuller, SIUC Emeritus and owner of the Fuller Dome Home donated the property at 407 S. Forest Avenue to RBF Dome. Shortly thereafter we began the process of making the possibility of creating a home museum a legal reality. First we applied for and were recognized as a Carbondale Historic Landmark. Next we wrote a text amendment to the Carbondale R-1 Zoning ordinance that would allow for a home museum as a "Special Use" in a R-1 zone. Finally we applied for and received a "Special Use”" permit to act as a Home Museum once the preservation effort is completed. In the amendment, we wrote in the option to use the Fuller Dome Home for receptions, meeting space and as a bed and breakfast. Once the groundwork was laid, we began the preservation effort. The first step was to have a Historic Structures Report (HSR) completed along with a Preservation Plan (PP) that gave us an estimated budget for completing the preservation effort. We sent out over 12 requests to architecture firms around Illinois for bids to complete the HSR and PP. In the end, we chose White & Borgognoni Architects, P.C. With the HSR and PP in hand, we could now determine how much money we would need to raise to complete the preservation. The estimated cost of the preservation is $240,000 (which doesn't include the professional fees for architectural and engineering consulting). As we considered that amount, it was determined that our best chance of raising that amount of money would be to have the Fuller Dome Home recognized as a National Historic Landmark (NHL) and then apply for grants that are offered to NHL properties for brick and mortar rehabilitation. We are now in the process of creating our application for NHL nomination.