With a crowd of spectators watching, a fourth-grader from Jerusalem Elementary School gave a construction crew the order to lift a 500-pound steel beam into place.
Signed by Imagination Station staff, board members, students, and donors to the construction of Imagination Station’s KeyBank Discovery Theater, the beam’s placement marked a milestone in a project announced nearly a year ago. The theater is slated to open in summer, 2020 and is part of an 8,200-square foot addition and $10 million upgrade to the downtown Toledo science museum.
The Imagination Station on Wednesday hosted a “topping out ceremony” — a symbolic event that occurs when the last or highest beam is placed during construction — to celebrate the theater’s progress.
Lori Hauser, director of the Imagination Station, said Wednesday’s ceremony belonged to everyone — from the donors and staff members to the construction crews. Lathrop Turner was contracted to complete the project.
“It takes a village,” she said. “We couldn’t have done this without their support.”
The theater will feature a 58-foot-wide screen and a 4K digital laser projection system with 3D capability. It will show eight to 10 educational films per year on a variety of topics as well as live feeds from space centers, other science facilities or museums, and major national and international events. Additional special events may include guest lectures coupled with films, video gaming tournaments, movie marathons, and seasonal family movie nights.
“We can’t wait to get you inside the actual theater,” Ms. Hauser told the crowd.
After the beam was set in place, Ms. Hauser said it was wonderful to watch it go up and that she hopes everyone appreciates these milestones leading up to the project’s completion. The beam sits above where the projection room will be, she said.
Jim Hoffman, market president of KeyBank, said it’s been fun watching the new theater go up during the past several months from the KeyBank offices, which sit right across the street from the site. KeyBank donated $2 million to the project and the theater will be named for it.
“To get to this point today and be on time and on budget is remarkable,” Mr. Hoffman said.
During the ceremony, state Sen. Theresa Gavarone presented a senatorial citation to Ms. Hauser and Mr. Hoffman for the project. Ms. Gavarone said she’s spent many hours at Imagination Station with her three children, adding it is one of her favorite places to go.
“It’s just such a wonderful place,” she said.
First Published December 18, 2019, 7:48 p.m.
