<P> In June 1994, during the middle of the second experiment, Space Biosphere Ventures dissolved, and the structure was left in limbo . It was purchased in 1995 by Columbia University, who used it to run experiments until 2005 . It then looked in danger of being demolished to make way for housing and retail stores, but was taken over for research by the University of Arizona in 2007; the University of Arizona assumed full ownership of the structure in 2011 . </P> <P> Biosphere 2 was originally constructed between 1987 and 1991 by Space Biosphere Ventures, a joint venture whose principal officers were John P. Allen, inventor and executive director, and Margret Augustine, CEO; Marie Harding, vice-president of finance; Abigail Alling, vice president of research; and Norberto Alvarez - Romo, vice president of mission control . Project funding came primarily from the joint venture's financial partner, Ed Bass's Decisions Investment . The project cost US $200 million from 1985 to 2007 . </P> <P> It was named "Biosphere 2" because it was meant to be the second fully self - sufficient biosphere, after the Earth itself . </P> <P> The glass facility is located in Oracle, Arizona at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains, half an hour outside Tucson . It is elevated 4,000 feet (1,200 m) above sea level . </P>

All of the following occurred in the biosphere 2 experiment except