A crane picked up a 60-pound slab of limestone off the ground and lifted it 30 feet in the air.
It dangled above some scaffolding next to the eastern wall of the Regional Performing Arts Center's concert hall.
Shawn Beaty, a bricklayer with Hagerman, walked over and communicated with the lift driver through headphones and a microphone.
"Coming down, coming down," said the 33-year-old
from Muncie, as he reached for the plank and helped direct it to a
stack of limestone blocks.
"Landing. Hold that," he said and untied the
plank. "Good job," and the hook and crane move away. Meanwhile, two
other workers set a block of limestone on the wall behind him.
The 4-foot-by-16-inch limestone slab also will
become part of the second-floor exterior wall of the $118 million
concert hall, which is scheduled for completion in November 2010.
The hall is part of a larger, $150 million project that will include two theaters.
Almost the entire exterior of the hall will be
covered in 30,000 to 35,000 cubic feet of hand-cut limestone, said
project manager Mike Anderson.
The limestone facade of the north side of the
building is almost complete -- with limestone blocks on the walls, fake
columns, window trims and detailed edges along the top. The design is
becoming more evident every day, and with one side well completed, it
allows the imagination to picture the entire building covered and
detailed in limestone.
