Anchorage Daily News

What: The Alaska Experience Theatre, originally built in 1981 on the corner of Sixth Avenue and G Street, operated there until March 2007 when the property was sold, and the site is now a parking lot, said Thomas Howard, general manager of the theatre. Its new location is on the second floor of the 4th Avenue Market Place. It is appended to the structure formerly known as the Post Office Mall and later Ship Creek Center. A dome theatre will include a planetarium-style screen measuring about 27-by-55-feet wide and 15 feet deep. It will stand nearly three stories high and wrap around most of the audience; others can sit outside of the immersion range. A smaller earthquake video theatre will show a brief program about the 1964 Alaska earthquake. Seating will shake back and forth to simulate an earthquake. Other features include an earthquake exhibit with historical photographs, interactive and video displays, and a small gift shop.

Where: 333 W. Fourth Ave.

Cost: More than $2 million

Architect: Spreng Associates Inc.

Contractors: C.D.F. Inc. General Contractors; Alaska Hydraulics; Classic Floors Inc.; Northern Services, steel contractor; Accurate Framing, Eagle River; Sonrise Acoustics Inc., Big Lake; Rite-way Roofing; A Plus Insulation, Wasilla; Kodiak Electrical Construction; MacDonald Miller of Alaska, mechanical; Triple X Inc., drywall hanger; Oien Associates, structural engineering; Custom Interior Services, drywall taper; Spenard Builders Supply, materials; Summit Windows and Doors, materials; Windward Town and Country Plaza, JRW Ventures, owner.

Why: There's a long-established theory that the tourist industry stops at D Street, said Howard, and that the mall has never really received significant notice as a tourism mall.

Jimmy Wong, a real estate developer in Alaska and Hawaii, has spent summers in Alaska since 1963. He purchased the Post Office and Sunshine malls about 12 years ago and also owns Alaska Experience Theatre. The idea is to convert the shopping center into a tourist and cultural attraction while promoting aspects of Alaska's history, he said. "That's a whole new concept of retailing today," said Wong. "You have to be creative in what you envision."

The theatre, which is scheduled to operate from May to October, will also open during major film festivals and Alaska-themed events such as the Iditarod and Fur Rendezvous. "We're trying to make that the focal spot for downtown," said Wong.

When: The theater's grand opening is scheduled for early June.

Have you driven by a construction project lately and wondered "What is that going to be?" It might be a potential candidate for our Building Anchorage feature. If you have a project to suggest, call Asta Corley at 257-4307 or e-mail acorley@adn.com.

Information compiled by ASTA CORLEY / Anchorage Daily News

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