BRADLEY, MI – Ironworkers Local 340 in conjunction with the Gun Lake Tribe of Match-E-Be-Nash-She-Wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians conducted a beam signing and topping out ceremony on Jan. 28 at the site of the Gun Lake Casino.  The ceremony was a celebration of completing the steel structure for the first stage of the gaming casino.

The Gun Lake Casino will be a 83,000 square-foot structure with 1,200 slot machines, 36 table games, an entertainment lounge and a restaurant seating 300.  When the casino is completed it will directly employ about 600.

In building construction, “topping out” is a ceremony held when the last beam is placed at the top of a building. The term may also refer to the overall completion of the building’s structure, or as in this case, is when the framework is completed.

While others join the celebration of topping out, it’s the ironworkers and their skills that make them first to reach the pinnacle of a structure, and it is around this group of workers that topping out revolves.  The last beam to be hoisted is signed by all those involved.  Tradesmen on the job joined in the celebration with their supervisors, the Gun Lake Tribe, representatives of project management firms Skanska USA and architect Friedmuller Group of Las Vegas, Friends of the Gun Lake Indians (FOGLI) and many other community VIPs.

D.K. Sprague, Tribal Chairperson, led the proceedings by encouraging those present to sign the last steel beam to be placed on the structure.  An evergreen tree was placed upon the beam with American and Gun Lake Tribe flags.

Tribal leaders conducted a smudging of the beam in order to cleanse bad spirits or negative energy in honor of the sacred ceremony.  A drum song was performed by Sprague.  A blessing of the food was given by Lorraine “Punkin” Shananaquet.

Hugh Coward, Business Manager, Ironworkers Local 340 and President of the Southwest Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, explained the meaning of the beam signing and topping out ceremony.  He stated that the evergreen tree stationed upon the beam is to symbolize growth and to recognize an injury free workplace.

The custom of decorating the uppermost point of the structure with an evergreen tree is a tradition that predates the structural-steel industry in America by hundreds of years and has old Northern European roots.  According to The Ironworker, the union’s official publication, “for some the evergreen tree symbolizes that the job went up safely without a loss of life, while for others it’s a good luck charm for the future occupants.”

Beam signing and ceremony took place within the Gun Lake Tribe’s administrative building.  At the conclusion of the ceremony a lunch was provided.  After lunch, the beam was hoisted into place by crane.  The pinnacle of the ceremony takes place when the beam is lifted into place and after the ceremony it was completely secured.

(Thanks to Ed Haynor of the West Michigan Construction Alliance for the article and photo).

IRON WORKERS topped out the new $157 million Gun Lake Casino on Jan. 28. It is located in Bradley, about 20 miles south of Grand Rapids off of U.S. 131.

A RENDERING OF the completed Gun Lake Casino. The casino had been planned to be 193,000 square feet, but the lousy economy prompted the tribal owners to downsize the facility to 83,000 square feet. It has a price tag of $157 million. Ground was broken on the casino in September and the Gun Lake Tribe anticipates a 10-12-month construction period.