A steel armature goes over the primary steel structure, supporting the Indiana limestone, Minnesota granite and Flemish bond brick and giving the building its signature sense of mass. Decorative molded limestone cornices and columns on the fourth level of each wing provided a particular installation challenge. Victor-Oolitic Stone Co. Lynn said the demanding job kept three cranes going nonstop, lifting stones that weighed from 1,500 to 4,000 pounds and then figuring out how to fasten then, sometimes by bolting upwards. In addition to thrilling the Society staff who get to work in such grandeur, the building inspires awe and a sense of eternity, says Harstad. His downtown neighbors tell him that the Society has dramatically raised the bar for public buildings.
People come by here just to look at the architecture.
You cannot ignore it. Perhaps most touched by the process were members of the design and building teams, for whom it represents a vital historical connection to the way buildings used to be built.