UAA "tops out" new Health Sciences Building

"Topping Out" ceremony celebrates major construction milestone

With the construction of the Health Sciences Building (HSB) well under way, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Cornerstone Construction Company will pause to celebrate its progress for a "Topping Out" Ceremony on Wednesday, May 26 at 11:30 a.m. The ceremony will take place at the HSB construction site along Providence Drive.

"Topping out" is the term used by ironworkers to indicate that the final piece of steel has been hoisted into place on a building, bridge or other large structure. Though the project is not yet complete, the structure has reached its maximum height. The "topping out" ceremony is a construction tradition from the days of wood construction. When timbers were raised for the rafters, workers would hoist a spruce tree from the top of the eave. This was done as homage to Mother Nature for providing the materials used in the construction.

The "topping out" of a building symbolizes the 25 percent completion mark. The skeletal system, or structure, is essentially finished, and workers can begin to install the rest of the building's systems.

Once complete, the $46.5M 65,321 square-feet building will accommodate UAA's nursing, medical, physician assistant and medical laboratory programs. The building will feature offices and classrooms, interactive simulation labs, seminar rooms and student activity spaces. The HSB is scheduled to open its doors to students in August 2011.

Health programs are among the fastest growing programs at UAA. Years of growth have resulted in highly successful programs that are outgrowing existing space on campus. The Health Sciences Building is the first phase of a planned Health Sciences Complex. The new building's location is ideal for UAA to continue strengthening its partnerships with nearby U-Med District partners - and others in the health care industry - to deliver state-of-the-art education to students.