A CONSTRUCTION MILESTONE; Highest beam placed in Newark arena.

The Star Ledger – May 22, 2007

The construction workers were gathered around the 40-foot steel beam that was to "top off" the Prudential Center arena. Mayor Cory Booker bent down and signed his name right under "Go Devils" scrawled in all caps next to the names of hundreds of ironworkers.
Then a crane lifted the 2,500-pound beam toward two iron workers perched 120 feet in the air waiting to squeeze it into its final resting place in the roof of the building.

There was only one problem: The beam didn't fit.

"It has to happen while everyone was here, right," said Bobby Conway, a member of Ironworkers Local 11. He was assigned the task of cutting an inch off the flange of the steel beam.

Out came the blow torches.

"I trust it'll get in place," Booker said later as he slipped out of the ceremony.

When the beam was hoisted up a second time, it fit perfectly. The two ironworkers met in the middle to shake hands and in doing so signaled the end of the "topping off" ceremony marking the placement of the highest piece of steel in the seven-story, $365 million structure set to open in October.

Standing on what will be an ice rink in just under seven months, Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek looked up and just shook his head.
"It's still a great day for Newark and a great day for us," he said. "When people say you can't do something and you do it, it's all the sweeter."

Now the race is on to complete the arena. Already, 10,000 tons of steel have been used along with 50,000 cubic feet of concrete.
William Crawley, head of the Newark Downtown Core Redevelopment Corp., which is overseeing the construction, said $55 million of Newark's $210 million contribution is left. Over the winter, construction costs have averaged anywhere from $16 to $18 million per month.

Vanderbeek said 90 percent to 95 percent of the building's exterior has been constructed. Workers will soon close the roof. The reddish and gray brick exterior is visible from Broad Street. A massive square-shaped space in the exterior awaits the installation of a gigantic liquid crystal display.

Inside, the luxury suites are all boxed out and the concrete platforms that will hold the seats are in place. Upstairs, on an outer deck, Vanderbeek envisions a cafe that people will frequent during lunch and after work and even when the Devils are not playing hockey.
Booker said he wants the arena to generate jobs and opportunities for Newark residents. "We are a city that is rising again," said Booker. "There is no structure that holds more promise of the days to come than t his structure right here."

Construction workers received hooded sweat shirts that said "I Built the Newark Arena." On the back was a quote from an article doubting that the arena would be completed on time. "Make it Happen" was stamped in big red letters next to the paragraph.
"I put my name on that steel beam," said Ernest Massey, a laborer from Laborers Union Local 1153. "It means a lot to see this arena in Newark. It will be good for the city."

In all the celebration, Booker led a moment of silence for 31-year-old construction worker and Newark resident Jamal Lawson, an ironworker who fell 85 feet to his death from the steel frame in September.

His fellow workers hadn't forgotten about him either.

The words "Remember J. Lawson" were written in big letters on the steel beam.