[Chris Cooper] wrote in letting us know that this weekend is the grand opening of QC Co-Lab, a hackerspace in Davenport, Iowa. They kicked the weekend off in grand fashion on Friday by sand casting bronze medallions with a blast furnace. The 4000 square foot facility has plenty of room for new members so if you’re in the area check it out. It’s not too late to join in on the tail end of the festivities.

Sector67 is also making plans for its grand opening. The Madison, Wisconsin based hackerspace will officially open on October 15th. There was a strong turnout for the first viewing of the facilities on September 7th (see for yourself), with plenty of building, arranging, and accumulating to be done before the official start. [Chris Meyer] has been working hard to get the organization off the ground, acquiring several grants, and working with the School Factory (something of a quick-start incubator for hackerspace-type non-profits). Want to see more? Thanks to [Andrew Seidl] you can peruse a set of quality photos from the event.