Topping Off Ceremony for maurices Headquarters

Photo courtesy of Duluth Minnesota Newspaper

It was an exciting day in Duluth, MN, as maurices celebrated a major milestone in the construction of their new headquarters. Project partners, maurices representatives, and the McGough maurices project team gathered collectively to celebrate the “Topping Off” of the new structure.

A “Topping Off” ceremony is a long-standing tradition in the construction industry. This celebration is assembled to commemorate the placement of the last structural steel beam (or its equivalent) atop a structure during its erection. This practice can be traced to the ancient Scandinavian religious rite of placing a tree atop a new building to appease the tree-dwelling spirits ousted in its construction.

All affiliates were invited to sign the final structural beam which was then lifted upward 11 stories by crane and positioned into its final place. As part of the tradition, an evergreen and an American flag were placed atop the beam for good luck.

The construction of the new maurices headquarters has been marked as the largest downtown commercial development in Duluth history.