The Canadian Museum for Human Rights reached an important milestone Thursday.
Construction crews delicately secured the last piece of glass, as donors watched from the ground.
A crane slowly raised the glass to the top of the Tower of Hope, where workers, Rikki McKay and Reid Harcus installed it.
“He brought it up with the radio with the crane, and that’s the last piece,” said McKay, “got it up nice and easy, make sure the wind conditions are right,” said Harcus.
A milestone for the construction of the $351 million dollar national museum.
“It just makes us realize the skill of the people working, I’m pretty emotional,” said Angela Cassie, Communications Directors with the Museum as she watched the glass get put in place.
And the workers left their own mark on a historic moment.
“We got a hidden signature in there,” said Harcus.
It’s taken a year for all 1669 pieces of glass to be installed, each piece custom made and imported from Germany.
“Not one piece of glass on this building, even the glass on the front, can you take one out and put it somewhere else, it won’t fit,” said Harcus.
The top of the Tower of Hope is 23 floors high, that’s 78 feet higher than the Golden Boy on top of the Legislature and when visitors come here in 2014, they’ll get part way up and see a birds eye view of the city.
“It’s a long journey and it’s really exciting to see it,” said Cassie.
With the exterior fully completed, the focus now shifts to inside. About 5,400 tonnes of steel make up the building structure and about 300 employees continue to work building the 12 galleries. Lighted walkways take you to each gallery, from Canadian history to current events.
“It’s not just a museum about the past,” said Cassie, “it’s about what’s happening today and in the final galleries, it’s what are you going to do about it.”
The hope, that lessons learned behind the glass are reflected.
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