DOC; Mountain Administrative Support Center; Acquisition Management Division; 325 Broadway MC3; Boulder, CO

66 -- OBSERVATORY DOMES SOL NAAJ700003MB POC Michelle Bernal, Purchasing Agent, (303) 497-3983 or FAX (303) 497-3163 or David Groton, Chief, (303) 497-3107 E-MAIL: NOAA; MASC Acquisition Management, Michelle.A.Bernal@noaa.gov. The U.S. Department of Commerce proposes to negotiate with Ash Manufacturing, Inc., P.O. Box 312, Plainfield, IL 80544 on a sole source basis for observatory domes configured as follows: 2 each 10'6" electrically operated "up & over" shutter design, 2 each 12'6" electrically operated "up & over" shutter design, 1 each 14'6" electrically operated "up & over" shutter design; 57" aluminum clad support wall cylinders with steel access door which meets the Americans with Disabilities Act requirements for each of the domes; personnel to supervise and assist during assembly of dome units. Two institutions require domes in the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) building -- the Climate Monitoring and diagnostics Laboratory (CMDL) and the Space Environment Center (SEC). Both CMDL and SEC have extensive experience with Ash domes and have developed automatic dome controllers that specifically operate Ash domes. Procuring any dome other than an Ash dome would require complete redesign, re-manufacture, and installation of these controllers. Existing climate controls that allow the instruments to remain at a stable temperature, critical for precision measurements, are designed for the "up & over" shutter technology. Alternative shutter designs would require additional expenditures for HVAC equipment & operating costs. CMDL has Ash domes both at its home institution and at its 12 field sites. Personnel are trained in Boulder in the operation and maintenance of these domes prior to being assigned to a field site. Training needs to be done on the same domes personnel will operate in the field. No formal RFQ is planned. Interested sources may submit a qualifications statement and technical product data by fax or mail on or before July 9, 1997. Submissions will be evaluated only to determine whether or not a competitive procurement is appropriate. See Note 1***** (0175)

Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0348 19970627\66-0015.SOL)