Visitors to downtown San Jose have been intrigued over the past few weeks as a 60-foot high, white geodesic dome was built on a vacant lot near San Pedro Square. Had we turned to giant igloos for housing? Was it a new bar or restaurant concept? What the heck is it?
It’s called The Domes, and it’s a real mind trip.
The Domes, which had its ribbon cutting Wednesday morning on the corner of Post and San Pedro streets, is an immersive event venue, sort of like the Sphere in Las Vegas but on a smaller scaler.
The Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards event at The Domes in downtown San Jose on Monday, June 29, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
1 of 4
The Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards event at The Domes in downtown San Jose on Monday, June 29, 2026. (Sal Pizarro/Bay Area News Group)
The 360-degree viewing experience inside the dome — with 8K projection and spatial sound — can be used for sports events like this week’s World Cup watch parties as well as corporate events, art experiences and other social gatherings. The Domes has a multiyear lease on the space, and while there’s currently only one “dome,” fundraising to build a second is in the works and a third is planned.
Some of the projected images shown during a preview for Mayor Matt Mahan, San Jose Councilmember Anthony Tordillos and Economic Development Director Jen Baker were mesmerizing, if not a little like watching the end of “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Mahan said he was impressed by his first experience at The Domes. “I don’t even have to go to Vegas now, I can just come to downtown San Jose,” Mahan said. “I love the flexibility of the space. You can imagine not just sporting events but corporate events, all the different kinds of gatherings that could be hosted here.”
The Domes CEO Chris Lawes launched his technology and immersive theater company in San Jose in 2015, producing events around the country and internationally before setting up shop in Austin in recent years. But he said he’s happy to come full circle, bringing The Domes back to San Jose for a permanent home.
“This is meant to be a place for people to come together to be uplifted and inspired,” Lawes said. “We want this to be a place that’s not just a standalone corporate experience that you go and look at and leave, we want this to feel like the San Jose dome park. We want be owned and loved by this city and this community and utilized by local residents and local businesses and nonprofits as a place to amplify great messages.”
Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce CEO Harbir Bhatia said the group was instrumental in bringing The Domes to San Jose, so it’s no surprise that one of the first events held there was its Legends and SV Biz Champions celebration Monday night. The event honored Santa Clara Weekly Publisher Miles Barber and the late Joe Siecinski, an engineer and manager with Hewlett Packard and Agilent and longtime executive coach who died in April.
A DIFFERENT BALL SPORT: The FIFA World Cup isn’t the only game in town this week, as the U.S. National Table Tennis Championships are taking place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center starting Friday and running through July 9. It was only a few months ago that the Timothee Chalamet movie “Marty Supreme” got people excited about table tennis, and this is a great chance to see some of the sport’s best among the 1,100-player field, including USATT top-rated player Kanak Jha, a three-time Olympian from Milpitas.
Get tickets and more information at www.usatt.org.
A CHAMPION FOR SAN JOSE: I was sad to hear that Stew Park, the former general manager at KNTV, passed away at his San Jose home last Friday at age 83 following a long illness. Park started his 40-plus-year career with the station as a production assistant while he was still at San Jose State. He was later the host of the popular “Record Hop” show and rose through the ranks at the San Jose TV station until he was program manager and then general manager and president. Throughout his career, he was active in the community, serving on the boards of the city’s American Red Cross and American Cancer Society chapters.
Retirement didn’t slow him down much. He remained active in the San Jose Rotary Club, serving as president in 2014-15 and cutting the ribbon on the Rotary PlayGarden, the club’s centennial project at the Guadalupe River Park, in 2015.
TEAM SPIRIT: With the U.S. Men’s National Team in downtown San Jose for Wednesday’s World Cup knockout game, the San Jose Chamber of Commerce redecorated its windows and doors with “U-S-A” vinyl film. Chamber CEO Leah Toeniskoetter said the quick patriotic makeover was thanks to Team San Jose Marketing VP Laura Chmielewski.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.mercurynews.com ’
