Iron workers sign name on piece of steel (Olympia Development photo)
It's impressive how quickly the the new Red Wings hockey arena on Woodward Avenue, just north of the Fisher Freeway, has taken shape.
Thursday was a milestone for Little Caesars Arena, which is scheduled to open in the fall of 2017.
At The District Detroit website, Olympia Development posts:
Today the final piece of structural steel was placed on the roof of Little Caesars Arena in The District Detroit. The important construction milestone was commemorated with a traditional topping out ceremony during which ironworkers signed their names, attached banners, flags and an evergreen tree to the final remaining piece of steel before it was hoisted into place.
The topping out ceremony was a proud moment for the ironworkers and entire crew, whose hard work and dedication has kept the project on schedule. And as construction continues, the number of men and women working on site each day has grown to approximately 540.
“Today, we celebrate the placement of the one special beam – the highest piece of structural steel on the arena,” said Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Inc. “You should all feel tremendously proud of what you’ve accomplished thus far. Thank you, to all of our ironworkers and members of our crew, for your amazing work. Your work on this arena makes you part of the historic comeback story unfolding in Detroit.”
John Gallagher writes at the Detroit Free Press:
Let's set aside for a day any controversies over Detroit's new arena to celebrate the labor of the workers in hard hats who are building it. . . .
Almost everything about the project has proved controversial at some point -- its location, its cost, the generous public incentives given the project, the question of how it benefits the community at large, the demolition of nearby buildings, and more. But it was easy to put aside those issues Thursday seeing the celebratory smiles and handshakes of the workers actually building the behemoth structure and staying safe in all kinds of weather against tight deadlines.
