Final Piece Of Steel Added To New Boone Memorial Hospital

MADISON, W.Va. – The final beam was put into place at a new hospital being built in Boone County Thursday.

It was a huge day for the staff at Boone Memorial Hospital, in what was a called a Topping Out Ceremony.

"This is probably the largest project of this size going on in our county,” hospital board member Bill Stone said. “To put in the last piece of steel in a project like this that started 12-15 years ago, as an idea, I think we've come a long way."

Stone’s been a board member for more than 40 years and said they made this a true community effort, hiring local people and vendors.

Hospital administrators and the board signed the last piece of steel just before it was put into place. They affixed an American flag to the beam as it was hoisted up with a crane with a construction worker standing at each end.

With a few good blows from a hammer got the beam in place and they bolted the last steel beam in place.

Everyone was wearing blue, and the event was called a ‘blue out.’ The hospital recently changed its logo to blue, so they wanted to see blue everywhere.

The current hospital is more than 40 years old and will be torn town once the new facility is up and running to make room for much needed parking.

Stone said he thrilled with how much community and state leaders have been behind the project from the start.

The area’s been long overdue for a big, new medical facility and is excited to see their dream open up next spring.