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New Welcome Center At Denver Art Museum Taking Shape: Glass Facade Installed

DENVER (CBS4) - A crane equipped with special suction cups was used at the Denver Art Museum this month to install more than 50 glass panels on a new welcome center. The milestone comes in the midst of a $150 million renovation project which is expected to be completed in 2021.

panels
(credit: Denver Art Museum)

Work crews used the crane to lay the panels out in such a way that they'll make up what will be the "first structural glass wall facade of this size and scale in North America to hold itself up without the need for intermediate framing," according to DAM.

"This facade is made up of elliptical concave curved glass panels," said DAM deputy director Andrea Kalivas Fulton in a prepared statement. "They've never been used before in this way on a building."

DAM
(credit: DAM)

The image below shows what the new three-story building will look like:

DAM NORTH BLDG TOPOFF 63PKG_frame_1460
(credit: Denver Art Museum)

It will serve as a gateway between the museum's Frederic C. Hamilton Building and the North Building, which is being modernized for future visitors as part of the project.

DAM panels
(credit: DAM)

Currently the Frederic C. Hamilton Building is the only area of the museum that's open to visitors.

The project is expected to be complete in time for the North Building's 50th anniversary.

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