Up from the earth, a colossus of steel  Staff WriterAugust 31,
2006   — Thirty feet below downtown Raleigh, you can see the
elevator shafts taking shape, stand on the spot where a bank of
escalators will drop and walk over a field of gravel bigger than
the Carolina Hurricanes' ice rink.  After a year of constant
digging, the skeleton of Raleigh's $215 million convention
center has started rising out of its deep downtown hole.  Every
day, more than 200 workers file through the tunnel under
McDowell Street to build the city's newest architectural
landmark -- a structure sunk half underground.  Four cranes
hoist concrete and steel for the 500,000-square-foot center --
double the size of the old building, demolished earlier this
year.  "That's a big rascal there," said Barnhill Construction
Vice President John Muter, pointing to the largest crane, which
lifts 250 tons.  The building's rough frame is taking shape, but
the project is only about 35 percent finished. The city still
aims to have it open in July or Aug