NEW YORK -- Just a year after groundbreaking ceremonies, the centerpiece of the Weill Cornell Medical College's (WCMC) multimillion-dollar capital campaign was recently "topped out." The Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building at 1305 York Ave. at 70th Street will house 330,000 square feet of modern, patient-oriented facilities and amenities, including state-of-the art equipment, a comfortable welcome center and several specialty clinical practices for integrated patient care. The building is scheduled to open in the fall of 2006.

"This is a historic occasion," said Kevin Brine, chairman of Weill Cornell's capital campaign and a member of Weill Cornell's Board of Overseers, as the final beam soared to the roof of the 2,700-ton steel frame.

Representatives from building contractors Bovis Lend Lease announced the building was ahead of schedule and within budget, despite a harsh winter and wet spring.

"This Ambulatory Care and Medical Education Building is the centerpiece of the most ambitious capital campaign in the history of our medical school," said Sanford I. Weill, chairman of the WCMC Board of Overseers. "I thank everyone who had the vision and foresight to extend our horizons, so that today we celebrate the expansion of Weill Cornell's clinical and research programs that will better serve our families. It is through the generosity of our donors and friends, our extraordinary physicians and scientists, our government and civic leaders that we can look forward to a new era of patient care."

On a fair day, May 16, that augured a sunny outlook for the building's completion, medical college faculty, staff and supporters, along with Bovis Lend Lease officials and iron workers, donned their white hardhats and gathered at the base of the structure to sign their names on the beam. A crane then hoisted the beam, with a traditional fir tree perched on top, 13 stories to the roof.

"This building will address all the major missions of the medical college," said Dean Antonio Gotto Jr., citing its expanded clinical space and research facilities that will bring students, faculty and patients together. "It's a proud day for the medical college, and we thank everyone who helped make this day possible."

"This building will shape the face of medicine for decades to come," said Peter Meinig, chairman of the Cornell University Board of Trustees, lauding the medical college for its vision and leadership. The center will be the flagship building for Cornell in New York City. 

Maurice Greenberg, a member of WCMC Board of Overseers, hailed the building as the latest in a series of achievements for the medical college, "a nexus of top minds and resources of medical care unparalleled anywhere else in the world."