Tuesday Talk: GWCC expansion project marks topping off milestone

Tuesday Talk rounds up the latest Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA) news you might have missed and also points forward to upcoming events on our campus.

Celebrating a milestone in the construction of the Georgia World Congress Center’s (GWCC) $55 million expansion exhibit hall, various stakeholders in the project gathered last Thursday (April 18) for a topping off ceremony.

Project architect Gregory Mullin of PGAL (left) and Jeff Oden, GWCCA Director of Project and Program Management, sign the ceremonial steel girder.

Construction crews, steelworkers, contractors, builders, project managers, and some state officials were treated to a catered barbecue lunch inside the convention center, then headed outside to the construction site to sign a steel beam with Sharpies. The beam – representing the final piece of support for the new building’s backbone – was then hoisted into place and bolted in by two workers high atop the structure.

Topping off, or topping out, is a construction tradition that signifies that progress on a particular project is being made. A part of that tradition usually includes a live or cut tree, and Thursday’s ritual at the GWCC featured a small evergreen tree and American flag affixed to the steel beam (pictured above).

The GWCC expansion project – which will connect exhibit halls in Buildings B and C – is a little bit past its half-way point.

A peek inside the framework of the GWCC expansion project.

When completed, the approximately 100,000-square-foot expansion will connect with exhibit halls in Buildings B and C, giving GWCC customers the ability to create one massive exhibit hall with roughly 1 million square feet of adjoining exhibit space, by rolling back the individual halls’ airwall divisions.

Here are some fun facts about the project so far shared by the construction team:

For more information, check out the GWCCA’s campus development page here.

THIS WEEK ON CAMPUS

Here’s a sampling of some of the events happening this week and weekend at the No. 1 convention, sports and entertainment destination in the world: