Final piece of structural steel placed on roof of Little Caesars Arena

By @MichaelCaples –

The new arena is that much closer.

Today, the final piece of structural steel was placed on the roof of Little Caesars Arena in The District Detroit.

A traditional topping out ceremony featured ironworkers signing their names and attaching banners, flags and an evergreen tree to the final remaining piece of steel.

The number of men and women working at the construction site each day has grown to approximately 540.

“Today, we celebrate the placement of the one special beam – the highest piece of structural steel on the arena,” said Christopher Ilitch, president and CEO of Ilitch Holdings, Inc. “You should all feel tremendously proud of what you’ve accomplished thus far. Thank you, to all of our ironworkers and members of our crew, for your amazing work. Your work on this arena makes you part of the historic comeback story unfolding in Detroit.”

The construction of 20,000-seat Little Caesars Arena is progressing towards its September 2017 scheduled completion date, with more than 7,500 pieces of steel – weighing nearly 10,000 tons in total – having been put in place by Detroit-based Midwest Steel.

Structural steel for buildings that will house new restaurants, shops and offices are simultaneously going up alongside the arena. The foundations for those buildings – one along Woodward Avenue and the other alongside Henry Street – have been finalized, and more than half of the 1,200 pieces of steel have been placed.