FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 16, 2023
Contact:
Christina Swanson, MA
Director of PR & Marketing
[email protected]
RICHMOND – The Valentine museum is pleased to announce it will be hosting a Topping Out Ceremony on Thursday, April 27th at 2:00 p.m. to celebrate the completion of the structural framework for The Valentine Moment Campaign construction.
The Topping Out Ceremony marks a significant milestone in the expansion project which will add new collections storage, public spaces for research, and staff offices, allowing the museum to increase accessibility to the collection and better tell Richmond Stories™.
The ceremony will take place at the construction site of the new addition and will be attended by museum staff, board members, campaign donors, and the construction team who have worked tirelessly to bring the project to fruition. Opening remarks will begin at 2:00 p.m. with the final beam placement starting at 2:15 p.m.
“Watching this beam go up will be an exciting moment for us,” said Director Bill Martin. “This project represents a significant investment in the museum’s future and our commitment to serving the Richmond community.”
The Topping Out Ceremony is a long-standing tradition in the construction industry, signifying the placement of the final beam or highest point of a building. It is often marked by the placement of a tree or an American flag on top of the beam or structure.
The Valentine’s construction is slated to be completed by fall of 2023, with the new public spaces opening in early 2024.
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About the Valentine
The Valentine has been collecting, preserving and interpreting Richmond’s 400-year history for over a century. Located in the heart of historic downtown, the Valentine is a place for residents and tourists to discover the diverse stories that tell the broader history of this important region. Located in Shockoe Slip at the site where the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom was signed in 1786, the Valentine First Freedom Center is dedicated to exploring the past, present and future of religious freedom in America.