Northern New Jersey’s American Dream Now a Reality: The long-awaited American Dream shopping mecca is no longer something that will be realized sometime off in the future. It is here. Scheduled to open Oct. 25 in the New Jersey Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J., the glass-enclosed 16-acre site is a combination of mega-shopping mall and theme park developed by the Triple Five Group—the same group that gave us the West Edmonton Mall in Canada and the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. Its 15 entertainment/informational experiences include a 300-foot-tall observation wheel, indoor skiing, a Legoland Discovery Center, a Sea Life aquarium and a huge DreamWorks water park. Its 3 million square feet also includes 450 shops and amenities with hotels to follow. Fashion choices range from high-end to budget. And there is also a 38,000-square-foot food court. Or more information, visit www.americandream.com, or call 201.340.2900
Kennedy Center’s REACH has a goal of “breaking down the barrier between audience and art.” For residents of the Washington, D.C. area as well as the millions who visit it every year, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts along the Potomac River has always been a must -visit for those seeking a performing arts experience in our nation’s capital. But the Kennedy Center itself has not really been equipped to satisfy the demand for “MORE.” Now, with the REACH, which extends the physical outlay of the Center, it has non-stop experiences that expand its reach. An example of this were the hundreds of performances, events and participatory experiences was the free 16-day festival inviting families, performing arts enthusiasts and artists to experience the flexible new space that marked the16-day grand opening of the REACH. The best way to get a small taste of what the REACH has to offer is to visit. https://reach.kennedy-center.org/about/.
Urban Putt Brings Indoor Golf to Downtown Denver: Expanding the notion of what a visitor to Denver can experience indoors is the new Urban Putt, an 18-hole mini-golf course that open recently in the former Old Spaghetti Factory space inside the historic Denver City Cable Railway Co. building located at 1201 18th Street. Described as “a mini golf steampunk fantasy come-to-life” the 18 mini golf holes that are divided into two nine-hole courses. These include six holes inspired by such individual Colorado landmarks as Red Rocks, Elitch’s, and Denver International Airport. The Denver attraction is actually the second for Urban Putt, which opened their first urban mini golf center in San Francisco’s Mission district in 2014.
The new Urban Putt features a kitchen serving what it describes as “chef-driven cuisine” that will utilize local ingredients and a bar serving local craft beers and custom tap cocktails. Also, an original Denver street from the 1920s that provided a unique seating feature in the Old Spaghetti Factory has been moved into the dining area of Urban Putt and will again contain tables for dining and also be a space for private parties. For more information, visit: https://www.urbanputt.com/ or call 720.360.3020.
National Museum of the U.S. Army to Open Next Summer: The $400 million steel-and-glass facility, about 20 miles south of Washington, D.C., will be the Army’s flagship museum when it opens on June 4 in Northern Virginia on Liberty Drive off the Fairfax County Parkway. The facility has already selected 1,300 “micro” artifacts and 19 “macro” artifacts — including a famous World War II Sherman tank from the Battle of the Bulge and a Bradley Fighting Vehicle from the wars in Iraq — for display. Included among these is the wreckage of an engine from “Super 6-1,” the first helicopter shot down in the 1993 “Black Hawk Down” disaster in Somalia in which 18 Americans were killed.
Recently, curators moved many of the specially cast soldier figures from the base at Fort Belvoir to the new museum to be installed. When the museum opens to the public, the U.S. Army will own and operate the facility while the Army Historical Foundation (AHF) will manage the Museum store, café, and catering services for special events. Within the Army organizational structure, the Museum is part of the U.S. Army Center of Military History whose higher headquarters is the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Army. For more information, visit www.armyhistory.org , or call 800.506.2672.
