On the 98th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first powered flight, Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta today officially presented the keys to the Nassau Cradle of Aviation to Nassau Heritage beginning the Cradle's "countdown to launch."

The keys were presented as the Cradle's IMAX Theater was publicly lit for the first time and the County Executive was honored for his long-standing support of the Cradle of Aviation. The Cradle of Aviation is scheduled to open to the public this spring.

The Nassau Cradle of Aviation is the cornerstone of Nassau's Museum Row at Mitchel Field. The 120,000 square foot facility includes two restored hangars, visitors' center, a world class IMAX Dome Theater, and a restaurant. Nassau County provided capital funding for construction of the facility, while Nassau Heritage, an educational corporation, oversaw the technical and historic construction, as well as acquisitions and volunteer efforts. Nassau Heritage has raised over $8,000,000 in private donations and has received over $30,000,000 in aircraft donations to make the Cradle of Aviation a reality. During the course of construction, hundreds of volunteers logged over 600,000 volunteer hours valued at over $20,000,000, often in the meticulous reconstruction of vintage pre-World War II aircraft and other historic items, including Grumman's Lunar Module.

In presenting the keys, Gulotta said, "Today, the final steps are being taken to open the Cradle of Aviation Museum and to make this dream a reality. I thank the hundreds of volunteers and contributors, as well as the contractors, designers and architects who contributed so much of their time and resources to make this Nassau Cradle of Aviation a reality. This facility will be financially self-supporting and will be an outstanding educational and cultural facility rivaling the Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. It will be a major tourist attraction in our region."