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County officials, builders, engineers, architects and tradesmen recently gathered at a topping out ceremony celebrating the completion of the outside structure of the 330-seat Leroy R and Rose W Grumman IMAX Dome Theater at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, which is under construction at Mitchel Field. The theater, which will be one of the 60 largest motion picture theaters in the world, will entertain viewers with a one-hour sensory experience of motion, sight and sound.
The topping out ceremony, presented by EW Howell Co (Port Washington), the project's general contractors, and Ruttura & Sons Construction Co (Freeport), which handled the concrete work, was to thank everyone involved in the project thus far.
The main purpose of this luncheon is to recognize the people in the field who built the project," said John Santarelli, EW Howell's director of business development, who added that the construction firm has built "more than half the aircraft factories and office buildings on Long Island."
Nassau County Historian Ed Smits, planning coordinator, added, "It is one of the hallmark points of the construction process." With the completion of the exterior, work will now focus on the interior of the building. Construction of the Cradle of Aviation Museum complex is expected to be completed Nov 11, 1999, with the opening scheduled for 2000.
The Cradle of Aviation Museum's IMAX Dome Theater is part of the first phase of construction of the 300,000-sq-ft, $160-million Museums at Mitchel Center, which will be a multifaceted educational, cultural and aerospace technology...