Twinsburg – The raising of the last structural beam atop the University Hospitals Twinsburg Health Center will take place during a “Topping Out” ceremony on Friday, April 6, at 12:30 p.m. The placing of the final beam, along with a pine tree and American flag, on top of the two-story health center is a symbolic tradition of good fortune in the construction of a new building.
Construction of the 46,000-square-foot outpatient health center, which began last October and is scheduled for completion in October 2007, has been progressing rapidly.
The building sits on a five-acre parcel highly visible from I-480 in Twinsburg. It will be easily accessible from either the Route 82 interchange or the Route 91 interchange and is located on Commons Boulevard. The medical facility will feature the latest in medical technology for diagnostic and outpatient primary and specialty physician services as well as an Urgent Care suite to serve the community. Specialty services will include ob/gyn, orthopaedics, pain management, cardiology, ear nose and throat, sports medicine, allergy and ophthalmology. Radiology, laboratory and physician therapy services will also be available.
The Topping Out ceremony is the first for University Hospitals’ numerous building projects that are part of the health system’s Vision 2010 strategic plan. The $1.2 billion plan is the largest expansion in UH’s history and includes construction of a new free-standing cancer hospital on the UH Case Medical Center (UHCMC) campus, building a new eastside hospital at Chagrin Highlands and renovating the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Rainbow Babies & Children’s Hospital and the Emergency Room at UHCMC.
History Behind Topping Out
For centuries, the raising of the frame of a roof has served as an occasion for ceremony and celebration. In medieval days, topping out ensured good fortune for the inhabitants. It remains somewhat of a mystery as to why builders have fastened small trees to the ridges of newly framed roofs. It is theorized that, having taken wood from the trees to build, builders bring the tree back to the wood. The tree becomes the house, and in ceremony the house becomes the tree. It is interpreted as giving homage to the trees, and in ancient times, historians say honoring the tree gods. The custom has become so popular in the United States, that builders are sometimes afraid to skip the ceremony, for fear that bad luck will follow the rest of the construction.