The St. Louis Cardinals and the Cordish Companies held a formal topping off ceremony sponsored by Wolverine Boots & Apparel this morning to celebrate the completion of a significant construction milestone in the $100 million first phase development of Ballpark Village.

A nearly 100-foot long A-frame roof truss was carefully lowered into place on the northern end of the retractable skylight roof opening to symbolically mark the ceremonial end of the structural steel work on the project. Hundreds of construction workers, along with officials with the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cordish Companies and Ballpark Village construction manager Paric, signed banners affixed to the beam before it was raised into place to help mark the occasion.

“While today marks a significant milestone, there is still a great deal of work to be done to be ready by Opening Day 2014,” said William DeWitt III, president of the Cardinals. “Today was really about pausing briefly to say thanks to all of the workers who are helping make Ballpark Village a reality.”

The construction team has made significant progress on the project since breaking ground earlier this year including making significant street improvements around the site, demolishing the Bowling Hall of Fame and Stadium West Parking garage pedestrian bridge, removing the old Busch Stadium pile caps, grading the entire 10-acre site and installing all of the underground utilities to support the development of the full 10-acre, seven square block project.

“Our structural steel work is nearly complete and the buildings will soon be enclosed,” said Chase Martin, Ballpark Village development director.  “Our work moves inside as we focus on tenant build out.”

As one of the largest mixed-use development projects underway in the United States today, Wolverine is excited to outfit construction workers tasked with completing the project in time for the start of the 2014 baseball season. Wolverine’s partnership includes outfitting a portion of the construction team with Wolverine footwear and apparel. Nearly a thousand construction workers are working on the Ballpark Village project.

“For 130 years, Wolverine has helped to build some of our most iconic structures through the quality and innovation of our products, and we are proud to partner with the Ballpark Village construction teams,” said Todd Yates, president of Wolverine.  “Their tenacity and commitment to their craft embodies what Wolverine is all about, which is what makes this partnership a perfect fit.  They embody our guiding philosophy ‘Made True,’ Wolverine’s standard of excellence.”