Codman Square Health Center "tops off" new building

February 08, 2012|By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent, Globe Staff

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012)

Steel workers adding the final beam to the health center's new building.

By Patrick D. Rosso, Town Correspondent

The Codman Square Health Center officially “topped off” its new health and education complex. Wednesday’s ceremony celebrated the completion of the center’s steel structure, which officially broke ground in October.

As the beam rose, adorned with an evergreen tree for good luck, a U.S. flag and a banner with the rendering of the new expansion, health center employees and students cheered, welcoming progress of the new addition to the neighborhood.

Construction is expected to be completed in fall 2012.

“A couple of months ago, we shoveled dirt to celebrate our groundbreaking and today we top our building off,” said Sandra Cotterell, CEO of the health center. “This ceremony celebrates the structure of the building being complete. It’s been a long and hard journey but we’ve had plenty of support.”

The new structure, which will cost close to $18 million, will host 22 new exam rooms for the medical center and allow for more space for the Codman Academy Charter Public School.

The construction for the new LEED certified "gold" 35,000 square-foot building was paid for by contributions from corporate sponsors and through the health center’s fund-raising.

Eight million dollars was also contributed through the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Email Patrick D. Rosso, patrick.d.rosso@gmail.com. Follow him @PDRosso, or friend him on Facebook.

(Patrick D. Rosso/Boston.com/2012)

Denzel Chaepell, 18, and Martin Willis Jr., 17, both students at the Codman Academy adding their signatures to the final beam to be added to the new building.