Fairfield firm is key in astronauts' memorial

The Des Moines Register - 1990

By CHARLES BULLARD

Of the Register’s Iowa City Bureau

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FAIRFIELD, IA - Using nothing more than a powerful jet of water and a crushed abrasive, a Fairfield company is playing a major role in the creation of a $7.8 million memorial to honor the 14 American astronauts who lost their lives in the nation's space program.

The monument at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will feature the back-lighted names of the 14 astronauts. Creative Edge Corp., a leader in the use of computer-controlled abrasive waterjet cutting systems, is painstakingly cutting each letter of the fallen astronauts' names completely through the 2-inch-thick slabs of highly polished black granite that will make up the memorial.

"We're thrilled to be working on it. Everyone in the place feels like it's a real honor to get to do this work,” said Jim Belilove, president of the year-old company.

In addition to the prestige of being selected as a prime subcontractor on the highly visible project. Belilove said he hopes publicity about the firm's key role will steer more business toward the Fairfield company, which employs 18.

Building The Company

"We're trying to build our company as a unique resource for large, artistic, architectural projects," he said. "We want to be known nationwide for doing that."

The names of the seven astronauts who died in the space shuttle Challenger explosion already have been sliced through two of the 5-foot-square interlocking slabs of mirror-finished black granite.