UAA tops out new Integrated Science Building

With the construction of the Integrated Science Building well under way, the University of Alaska Anchorage and Cornerstone Construction Company will pause to celebrate its progress with a "Topping Out" Ceremony on Oct. 12 from 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. The ceremony will take place in the lobby of the Administration Building.

 

"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. The project is not yet complete but 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 complete, and workers can begin to install the rest of the building's systems. Construction is scheduled for completion in June 2009 and will open its doors in September 2009.

Once complete, this exceptional building will provide a matrix for recruiting and retaining high-caliber faculty, attracting and retaining the best and brightest of Alaska's scholars, and supporting the creative sciences of the new millennium. With 120,000-square-feet of up-to-date offices and workspace and state-of-the-art teaching laboratories, the ISB supports UAA's expanding research activities and gradate, undergraduate, academic and research programs. Features will also include a planetarium, biomedical research lab and a 445-stall parking garage.

Science programs are among the fastest growing programs on campus. Years of growth have resulted in highly successful programs that are busting out of existing space on campus. Enrollment in UAA's science programs has grown more than 27 percent in the past decade outpacing enrollment growth in the rest of the University by 15 percent.

Free parking is available. To RSVP call (907) 786-1244.