Academic Science Building Topping Off Ceremony

(August 6, 2015) - University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, together with its design and construction partners, JRA Architects and Messer, hosted a “topping off ceremony” today to mark the securing of the last and uppermost beam atop the new Academic Science Building (ASB). The ceremony signifies completion of the structural phase of the three-story, $112 million project.

Those in attendance included College of Arts and Sciences Dean Mark Lawrence Kornbluh, Messer Operations Vice President Mark Hill and many Messer and College of Arts and Sciences employees working on the ASB. Held inside the building, attendees could see first-hand the progress being made on the building, in addition to signing the construction beam.

"This is an exciting step for undergraduate education and research for the college and for the university," Dean Kornbluh said. "This building is going to be transformative for teaching science on this campus. It will be a place where every student on campus will take their science classes; where every student who is a STEM major will spend time doing and experiencing science."

Construction began on the ASB in fall 2014. Scheduled to open in fall 2016, the building’s design places integrated, engaged learning as its centerpiece.