Workers are closing tight the new dinosaur hall at Carnegie Museum of Natural History this week as they make the final sprint toward its public reopening Nov. 21.

The major work of the $36 million renovation is complete -- the open courtyard has been enclosed to form an atrium housing the exhibit, dinosaur skeletons are re-posed, and most of the period-specific animal and plant life surrounding the "Dinosaurs in Their Time" fossils is in place. But while visitors have been allowed into the exhibition for sneak peeks the past few weeks, the hall is being sealed off for final touch-ups, including the installation of carpeting, computer touch screens and other educational materials, as well as for a final cleaning.

The main exhibition space for the world's third-largest collection of dinosaur fossils has been closed since spring 2005, and, with the reopening, Carnegie officials predict a 40 percent attendance jump at the Oakland facility next year.

It all kicks off with a $500-per-person "Return of Carnegie's Dinosaurs" gala Nov. 16, sponsored by PNC. Carnegie Museums members are offered a preview Nov. 17-19 -- for which 19,000 are already registered -- before the public opening Nov. 21.

From Nov. 21-30, with the exception of Thanksgiving, the museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. On Dec. 1, the museum will return to its regular hours, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays -- except Thursdays, when the museums will be open until 8 p.m.

All visitors are encouraged to book tickets in advance at www.carnegieonline.org/cmnh, at the new admission prices of $15 for adults; $12 for seniors; and $11 for children and students. Admission for members is free, but making reservations online is still recommended.

The museum's "Adopt-A-Bone" fund-raising drive is on track to meet its $200,000 goal: 976 fossils have been sponsored so far, raising $118,159, said spokeswoman Ellen James, with 853 bones still available for adoption.

A second phase in the dinosaur hall's construction, featuring two T. rex skeletons, will open in the spring.