Phase II of the Capitol Complex Project Tops Out

Phase II of the Capitol Complex Project looking southwest. All photos
in this article are courtesy of the Texas Facilities Commission.

On Friday, August 22, the last steel beam was placed at the highest point on the 1501 Lavaca State Office Building construction. Both the 1500 Congress State Office Building and the Texas Capitol Mall Extension have reached their highest points; therefore, the project is officially topped out. More than four hundred trade workers and members of the project controls, construction management, and design teams gathered on the construction site to celebrate the milestone achievement. Officials in attendance from the Texas Facilities Commission included Executive Director Mike Novak, Facilities Design and Construction Division Deputy Executive Director Will McKerall and Deputy Director Cameron Geertsema, Senior Project Manager Kathryn Panak, and Project Manager Jay Franklin.

The celebration festivities included a catered lunch, final beam signing, and recognition of the workers. Speakers from JE Dunn, the construction manager of the project, included Project Manager Gabe Smith. Gabe led the self-performance team for the concrete installation and cited several impressive project statistics.

Texas Facilities Commission Executive Director Mike Novak
addresses the ceremony attendees.

CAPITAL COMPLEX PROJECT PHASE II CONCRETE FACTS

The topping out of Phase II of the Capitol Complex Project marks momentous progress in the State of Texas’ goal to provide modern, permanent office space for State operations while reducing expenditures for leased space. Topping out celebrations are a time-honored tradition for construction projects and provide us a moment to pause and recognize the accomplishments of the various vendors and teams involved in the project.

The Texas Facilities Commission would like to thank everyone who attended this celebration and most importantly to all those individuals who have provided countless manhours of planning, design, construction, and support to achieve this project milestone.