Vista del Sol residents at the Tempe campus have a shiny new addition to their housing community — a multifaceted gold-colored dome that was a Tempe landmark since 1962 until it was removed in 2006.

Though the dome’s everyday function at Vista del Sol is to provide shade, Ken Taylor, an ASU project manager overseeing its installation, said the dome will also be used for special events.

“The new structure is designed for use as a pavilion and can accommodate various ASU functions including lectures, musical performances and social gatherings,” he said.

The dome started as the roof of a Valley National Bank on the South Rural Road and East Apache Boulevard in 1962, ASU spokeswoman Sharon Keeler said.

The dome covered the bank’s 2,600-square-foot lobby, Keeler said in an e-mail.

In 1989, the building became ASU’s Visitor Information Center until 2006, when it was demolished to make room for the new Barrett, the Honors College complex.

The dome, made from more than 100 diamond-shaped panels, was preserved as a historic structure and an architectural oddity.

“ASU worked with the State Office of Historic Preservation to make sure that we complied with state statutes governing historic preservation,” Keeler said.

Taylor said the dome was stored at ASU’s surplus property yard until its relocation back to the Tempe campus.

Steve Nielsen, assistant vice president of University Real Estate, said American Campus Communities built both Vista del Sol and the Barrett complex.

But before the company demolished the Visitor Information Center to clear the land for the new complex, it decided to preserve the dome and eventually move it to Vista del Sol.

“From very early on it was determined that [the dome would be] incorporated into the Vista del Sol project,” he said.

Relocating the dome was a requirement of American Campus Communities’ development efforts with ASU, Nielsen said.

Architecture sophomore Brittany Wisely lives in a condominium across the street from Vista del Sol and said she likes the dome.

“I think it’s a good addition over here because it adds to the community atmosphere,” Wisely said. “I’m curious to see what it will be used for.”

Reach the reporter at kkfrost@asu.edu.