Construction workers help raise the final steel beam to be put in place at Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine’s Secchia Center in Grand Rapids. Workers celebrated a construction milestone Oct. 29, with the “topping off” of the medical education building, which will serve as the west Michigan home of the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine.

Click on an image to view a larger or high-resolution version.

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. ─ Michigan State University’s College of Human Medicine celebrated a construction milestone Oct. 29, with the “topping off” of the Secchia Center medical education building.

Nearly 200 past, present and future trade workers on the Secchia Center construction project watched as the last construction beam was hoisted. Atop the beam was an American flag to represent patriotism, an evergreen tree to symbolize good luck and prosperity and an MSU flag to represent MSU’s commitment to the Grand Rapids community.

MSU College of Human Medicine Dean Marsha Rappley commended the trade workers for their performance on the facility, which will serve as the West Michigan home of the MSU College of Human Medicine.

“The Secchia Center is more than a construction project. You are part of a team that is working toward something that is greater than us all,” Rappley said. “This state-of-the-art medical education building will house a community of learners – tomorrow’s physicians and scientists.”

The seven-story, 180,000-square-foot facility will include teaching laboratories, classrooms, offices and student areas. It will be located in downtown Grand Rapids, at the base of Michigan Street hill at Division Avenue, across from the Van Andel Institute and Spectrum Health.

Following the beam raising, construction manager the Christman Co. and MSU held a celebratory picnic for the dozens of trade workers as a thank you for their safety record, with more than 65,000 man-hours logged since May.

The Secchia Center is on budget and on schedule for completion in summer 2010.

###

Michigan State University has been advancing knowledge and transforming lives through innovative teaching, research and outreach for more than 150 years. MSU is known internationally as a major public university with global reach and extraordinary impact. Its 17 degree-granting colleges attract scholars worldwide who are interested in combining education with practical problem solving.