'Topping Out' Ceremony
During May 2009, WARF and Morgridge Institute trustees and staff gathered to celebrate the “topping out” of the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery facility. Photos provided courtesy of Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.
WARF Trustees John Morgridge, Joan Spero and Kathy Smith sign a beam before it is placed atop the new Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery at a ‘Topping Out’ ceremony held in May 2009. The facility, made possible by gifts from John and Tashia Morgridge, and WARF, will be completed in December 2010. Download Photo
From Left: Sang Kim, executive director of the Morgridge Institute for Research, the private side of the twin biomedical research institutes that will occupy the innovative Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery facility, signs a beam about to be welded to the top floor of the structure. He is flanked by members of the WARF management team and the WARF and Morgridge Institute boards. Pictured are Michael Falk, Winslow Sargeant, Carl Gulbrandsen, Pat Lipton and Doris Meissner. Download Photo
Members of the Findorff Mortenson construction crew steady a beam as it is hoisted to the top of the four storey structure during the facility’s “Topping Out” ceremony. This ceremony is traditional in the construction industry to recognize the milestone of completing the top structure of a building. Scandinavians are said to have originated the custom of placing living trees atop new buildings in efforts to appease the displaced tree-dwelling spirits of their ancestors. Download Photo
From Right: Major donor, WARF and Morgridge Institute for Research trustee and namesake John Morgridge, former chairman of Cisco System, Inc., is joined by fellow UW-Madison alums and WARF trustees Ernie Micek and Joan Spero, as they watch the beam they have just signed placed atop the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Download Photo
Two workers from the Findorff Mortenson construction team, reach for the beam to weld it in place atop the Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery. Two ‘Topping Out’ ceremonies, traditional in the construction industry, were held for the facility in May – one for WARF and Morgridge Insitute trustees and staff, and another later in the month for the construction workers. Download Photo
