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Cox Medical Center Branson will hold a topping ceremony at the new Emergency Department tomorrow morning (4/24) at 9. Cox spokesperson Michelle Leroux says the tradition goes back a long way.
"The custom of decorating the uppermost part of the structure with an evergreen tree predates the structural steel industry in America by hundreds of years. It's got old northern European roots," she said.
The final piece of iron in the new building’s structure will be hoisted into place, and attached will be an evergreen tree and an American flag.
"That evergreen tree symbolizes a safe construction site that is said to serve as a good luck charm for the building and its future occupants," she said.
The 60 thousand-square-foot, $30.8 million construction and renovation project is expected to be completed in November 2014.
The facility will house an emergency department and an expanded critical care unit.
Leroux says it will feature 32 private exam and treatment rooms and eight observation beds as well as easy access to imagery and laboratory departments at Cox Branson.