SYMBOLS OF SUPPORT FOR NEW LIBRARY
Craig Dykers, of architectural firm Snohetta, places a “topping-out” branch, a centuries-old construction tradition, on what will be the final beam of the new Central Library.
Celebrating a building’s highest beam is an ancient construction tradition that underwent a modern makeover in Calgary’s East Village on Tuesday.
For centuries, a single tree has been placed atop the highest beam of an under-construction structure to celebrate the building coming to life, in a builders’ rite that’s been traced back to Scandinavia and is known as a “topping out” or “topping off” ceremony.
Instead of celebrating the apogee of Calgary’s New Central Library with an evergreen, politicians and citizens gathered Tuesday to create a time capsule on the library’s final piece of structural steel.
“That final steel beam is about support,” said Mayor Naheed Nenshi. “It’s about not just supporting the structure, but it’s about the support that we have for our library and for our community.”
Nenshi joined people of all ages who penned messages on the white beam, using a purple permanent marker to write: “Let this place help us all build community.”
Covered in colourful words, lyrics, poems, names, drawings and statements, including “Glad to be Canadian,” the last piece of structural steel — a 15-tonne steel cross member — is set to become a time capsule for future generations.
The library’s architect, Craig Dykers of Snohetta, was on hand for the twist on ancient tradition, carrying a pine branch and telling stories about the event’s historic beginnings.
“The topping out ceremony, such as the one we’re experiencing today, actually dates back thousands of years to our earliest ancestors, to a time long ago,” he said.
“As the story goes, when a construction effort places its highest structural element on its frame, an age-old ceremony commemorates the event.”
Construction on the new 240,000-square-foot facility began in the fall of 2015, and councillor for the ward, Druh Farrell, said the building’s final steel beam was worth celebrating.
“It’s symbolic,” she said. “It’s a milestone.”
Construction of the $245-million New Central Library is on schedule and it is slated to open in the late fall of 2018, said library board chair Janet Hutchinson.
She said staff members are already preparing for the transition from the old building across from city hall to the new facility.
“If you’ve ever moved house, you’ll have some idea of what lies ahead for staff,” Hutchinson said of the move. “There are 174 tonnes of books, resources, equipment and stuff to be sorted, packed up and moved from our current location to the new library.
“It might be just across the street, but it still all has to be moved.”