.: Topping off ceremony tops off year of safe, hard work on new building complex.

On November 18, 2005, students, faculty, staff, alumni, college leaders, friends, architects, and donors signed concrete blocks for the foundation of the new building complex and joined in a groundbreaking ceremony. Less than a year later, about 100 guests gathered for yet another tradition: the topping off ceremony, which celebrated the completion of the roofs on two of the buildings on November 3, 2006. The timing was perfect: the last piece of the roof was poured two days earlier and certified on November 3rd.

The topping off ceremony has been a custom in the construction industry for many years. It often includes the hoisting of the last roof beam on which a flag or an evergreen tree has been placed. When there is no beam, crews use alternatives—such as installing the tree on the roof level—as the college did.

Centex Construction hosted the gathering and had a guest list of its own, including the hard-working crew. Members of the architectural firms BEA International, Miami, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates PC, New York, also attended.

Both Chapman School Dean José la Torre and Kirk Connors, the project manager from Centex, spoke to the group, which had assembled in Academic Hall.

“Dean de la Torre talked to the faculty, staff, and construction people, thanking everyone for their participation, effort, and support,” said Fernando Irizarri, the college’s coordinator of facilities. “When he spoke to the workers, many of whom are Hispanic, he spoke in Spanish, and you could tell how thrilled they were by that gesture.”

“He gave a history of the custom of placing a flag and a tree on the final roof beam or on the roof,” said Angelina Autran (EMBA ’06), assistant to de la Torre. “Though there are many interpretations of what the tree signifies, he drew analogies between the life, growth, and hope the tree symbolizes and our hopes for the future of the building complex—that we’ll have many students; that everyone will continue to be safe, as the workers have been; and that the school will draw students for many generations, like a living tree.”

Guests use their imaginations to envision the completed structure.

“Looking at the new building was like looking at a sonogram,” said Tomislav Mandakovic, associate dean, Chapman School. “I was able to be right there and to foresee the new life that’s coming.”

“If you had looked at the plans, you could imagine what it will look like when it’s finished,” said Kenneth Henry, lecturer, School of Accounting, who also appreciated the chance to get a feel for the building’s size. “The concrete floor of Academic Hall had been cleared, and you could stand at one end of the structure and see all the way to the other. It’s a view we will never have again, and it gave me a sense of the size of the building.”

According to Autran, “We were sitting in what will be case rooms. It was cool to imagine how they will appear in the next few months.”

As part of the festivities, attendees received t-shirts with an image of Commons Hall, noted for its dramatic prow shape. A raffle took place and everyone enjoyed a catered BBQ lunch.

The complex remains on schedule for an October, 2007, opening.