Calvin to Celebrate Steel Topping
Work on the $50 million Spoelhof Fieldhouse Complex project at Calvin College is continuing at a rapid clip with some 125 workers representing 40 or so subcontractors daily in action on the college's campus.
To celebrate the progress of the project—which includes a new arena, a new aquatics center and a new indoor track and tennis center—Calvin is hosting an unusual event on Monday, April 21, a thank-you lunch for the contractors which will double as an informational update and will conclude with a structural steel topping ceremony.
The event will begin with an 11:30 a.m. hors d'oeuvre reception in the old Calvin Fieldhouse (being remodeled as part of the project), continue with a noon presentation on the project by Calvin president Gaylen Byker and then wrap up with a 12:30 p.m. informal buffet lunch for all the construction workers, followed by the 1:15 p.m. structural steel topping ceremony.
That ceremony is a traditional one for ironworkers which marks the final piece of steel being hoisted into place on a building, bridge or other large structure.
It does not signify that the project is completed; rather that it has reached its maximum height. Often the final piece of iron is hoisted into place with a small evergreen tree (called a Christmas tree in the trade) and an American flag attached.