Beam me up

Highest beam for new library signed and set into place

By Adam Hocking

Editor

MARSHFIELD — A moment symbolizing progress, the highest beam of the new Everett Roehl Marshfield Public Library was lifted into place on Tuesday morning.

Key contributors to and organizers of the fundraising campaign signed the beam prior to it being installed, including Roehl himself, though he declined to comment on the occasion.

The beam is 64 feet long, and Boson Company Inc.’s Director of Construction Joe Dolezal said it weighs close to 14,000 pounds. Boson is the construction manager on the project.

Dolezal said that the new library would be mostly enclosed by late February, at which point interior work could begin. Construction will continue throughout the winter.

“Everything is just coming together great. It’s a really good team that the city has selected,” Dolezal said. “Everything’s just flowing very well.”

Dolezal said that windows for the building “should be available by mid-January” and that roofing material “is ready to ship.”

“Basically it’s the capstone,” said Marshfield Public Library Director Lori Belongia of the beam. “It’s just another step in this process, a significant one in terms of the construction.”

“Wow, it feels really good to see that final, that tallest piece go in,” Belongia added. “As I look out the window and see this happening every day, each piece is like — it makes it more and more real. I keep pinching myself.”