“Topping Off” Ceremony at the Hopkins Center
Something’s changed at the construction site on East Wheelock Street in downtown Hanover. There’s a new beam and an attached small pine tree in the sky.
Against gray clouds and threats of rain, the Hopkins Center for the Arts celebrated the placement of the very last beam in the construction of its new and renovated arts venue with a “topping off” ceremony.
In building construction, topping out (sometimes referred to as topping off) is a builders' rite traditionally held when the last beam (or its equivalent) is placed atop a structure during its construction. . . . [As explained to the audience,] “the practice of "topping out" a new building can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits displaced in its construction.
The liveliest part of the afternoon was the signing of the beam itself. Attendees stepped forward to select a sharpie (color seemed important—I chose purple, see below) to scrawl their signatures on the surface of the white metal beam.
Then the moment came. The crowd, already prying cameras from pockets and bags, exited the Russo Atrium at the Hood Museum and scattered toward the Haywood Lounge and across the street to the Dartmouth Green, the better to see the beam hoisted into the air by the adjacent construction crane. It rose, sailed horizontally through the air, and was dropped into place—in less than a minute from start to finish. Two waiting workers then scrambled atop it to secure it in place.
In ceremonial speeches, various administrators from the Hopkins Center and Dartmouth College shared similar themes, referring often to the Hopkins Center as the “beating heart of the campus and of the community,” and as an agent in Hanover’s “vibrant downtown.” An architectural model was unveiled, showing a new Hopkins Center with increased capacity throughout and improved acoustics, and described as a “welcoming” building that is “embracing what is next.”
Much was made of the complex nature of the construction project which involved more than fifty subcontractors, as well as many visionaries, planners, architects, project managers, and donors. Laurel Richie, Chair of the Hopkins Center’s Advisory Board, was the first—but not the last—speaker to thank the many construction workers, whose work, of course, continues.
(Photos except where otherwise credited are mine. Quoted text about “topping off” ceremony via Wikipedia)
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And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word..