Late in 1934 it was announced that, following the World’s Fair, the Ford Rotunda would be dismantled and shipped to Dearborn, Michigan where it was to act as a visitor center and be reconstructed using more permanent materials.

It was constructed with a steel framework weighing 1,000 short tons (910 t) with 114,000 sq ft (10,600 m2) of Indiana limestone attached to it, matching the administration building.

Seeking to enclose the open center court with a roof, Ford engineers calculated the weight of a conventional steel-framed dome at 160 short tons (150 t),[4] which the Rotunda structure could not support.

In its first real-world application, inventor R. Buckminster Fuller designed a lightweight geodesic dome weighing 18,000 lb (8,200 kg),[3] solving the problem, and becoming a tourist attraction in its own right.

Ford utilized the Rotunda’s popularity to call attention to new model introductions, and was used as a venue to photograph its automobiles and hold special events.

In 1958 the new Lincoln Continental was introduced to the press under a 100-foot-tall (30 m) model of the Eiffel Tower and in 1959 just after Alaska became the 49th state, a display was built featuring mountains, fisherman and a stuffed grizzly bear in the Rotunda.

The Rotunda was the fifth most popular tourist destination in the 1950s, after Niagara Falls, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, the Smithsonian Institution and the Lincoln Memorial.

"[7] A group of 118 schoolchildren from South Bend, Indiana, had just exited the building and, from the parking lot across the street, witnessed the first flames as they appeared; also present were two truant students from Detroit who were arrested at the scene.

[8] Around 60 employees escaped safely, with the only casualty being John Riley, 58, of Dearborn, a building engineer, who suffered a burn on his arm and shoulder and was treated for smoke inhalation.

Along with the destruction of the Rotunda, the fire consumed each of the 1963 Ford models which were on display, several one-of-a-kind "dream cars," each valued at $100,000 in 1962, and $250,000 worth of Christmas decorations intended for the Winter Spectacular.

[8] These archives – then considered the most complete single collection of its kind – consisted of over 14 million items, including business papers, memorabilia, and over 250,000 photographs.

The building also contained 65 towering pylons at one end and a large exhibition hall at the other, requiring enough steel to erect a skyscraper 125 feet square and 22 stories high.