The University of Central Arkansas is hosting a “Topping Out” ceremony of Bear Hall on Thursday, Jan. 12.
The event will begin at 3 p.m. in the southwest corner of Bear Hall in the parking lot area. Students, staff, administrators and construction workers will be given the opportunity sign the beam before it is placed on the structure. Individuals can sign the beam between 2:30 – 3 p.m. Representatives from the university and Nabholz Construction will speak at the ceremony.
Diane Newton, vice president for financial and administration, said the event is significant for the people that have been directly involved in the construction of Bear Hall. Newton is in charge of the general oversight, timeline and budget of the project.
“This ceremony is a tradition in the construction and engineering fields and takes place when the highest piece of steel is placed on a building’s frame,” Newton said. “The tradition dates back to the Vikings, who would place an evergreen tree on the top of a building to celebrate and wish for good luck.”
The project is on schedule to open the fall of 2012, Newton said. The 122,200 square-foot facility includes 362 beds, office space, and skyboxes.
Bear Hall will be the home of UCA’s Entrepreneurship, Public Scholarship, Innovation, & Community Engagement (EPIC) Residential College. EPIC will allow students from the College of Business, College of Liberal Arts and the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics to build an innovative residential community that will generate an entrepreneurial climate and promote community engagement.
Students will work together in teams to develop patents, initiate start-up companies and help progressive companies grow. The EPIC program also promotes greater science literacy in business and government. The program will partner with K-12 Schools, local companies, non-profit organizations, and professional businesses in the community. These partnerships will generate internship opportunities for students and experience that will help them increase the impact of their own community engagement initiatives and increase the likelihood of success for your own start-up ventures. – Lisa Burnett
