Bundled up against the cold and bouncing with excitement, children from all grades filled the parking lot in front of the elementary school to watch as a giant crane raised the steel beam on which they had all signed their names and placed it atop the framework of the new school building.
The long-awaited topping-off ceremony took place Thursday, Dec. 12, on a brisk but sunny afternoon. Hildreth Elementary School Principal Josh Myler told the gathering of children and adults that the event was a celebration of all the hard work that had gone into erecting the steel structure for the new school. Myler was so caught up in the general excitement that he began his outdoor talk in shirtsleeves, but someone brought him a warm jacket.
“Watch the big, white crane,” Myler directed the children. And, as the crane began to lift the beam carefully into position, the constant buzz of young voices turned to shrieks of glee. At one end of the beam was an American flag, at the other a small pine tree in a bright red pot. Harvard’s town banner was draped across the center of the beam.
For the young listeners, Myler explained the pine tree recalled a time when most buildings were made of wood, but it now stood for all the resources that were needed for the new school. “We’re grateful for all the resources that have gone into it,” he said.
‘You are superheroes’
Before the topping-off ceremony, representatives from the Select Board, the School Building Committee, the School Committee, and a dozen third-graders met inside the cafetorium to thank the building teams.
Three pairs of children presented copies of the book “If I Built a School” by Chris Van Dusen to representatives of each of the three major companies involved in the project—the architecture firm Arrowstreet, the project management firm NV5, and the construction firm Shawmut.
Building committee Chair SusanMary Redinger spoke directly to the eight yellow-vested members of the Shawmut building crew who were present: “The HES students think you are superheroes,” she said, to applause.
The kids also weighed in on their favorite moments of the construction project. Owen Mead explained he had been away for a few days when the steel started going up, “And when I came back, there was half of the school all there.” Evren Kinayman had a different favorite time: “I really liked it when you guys were destroying the rocks!”
A few days after the topping off, on Monday of this week, Shawmut’s project superintendent Jonathan Seymour guided a dozen teachers and administrative staff members on a tour of the work site.
Teachers could see the size of future classrooms outlined in steel. Someone pointed out the skylights that showed where the art room would be. The gym, the space for the stage, the office spaces, and the location of the media center were all obvious, even though the “floors” were only rutted, half-frozen mud.
Seymour explained the areas enclosed in tarps are heated, but only enough to keep them just above freezing so newly poured concrete will not crack. As more areas are ready for concrete, they will be tarped as well.
With a couple of snowstorms already and more snow in the forecast, Seymour said the construction crew needs two or three days to get the work site back in shape after each storm, de-icing the beams and pumping water out of excavated areas. Last Sunday’s winds were so fierce, he said, that they damaged some tarps and even ripped out the screws holding up the sign at the site entrance.
