Full story inside:

The final beam adorned with signatures and an evergreen tree is raised to be placed on Falcon Stadium at Air Force Academy on Friday. The addition will create more than 1,000 new premium seats for the stadium.

Snow began falling heavily at the Air Force Academy as the final steel beam was hoisted into place. With the beam secured, work on the $90 million project can soon transition to the interior phase, where work can commence without being hindered by exterior elements.

The weather did its part to highlight the importance of Friday’s topping off ceremony for the construction project on the east side of Falcon Stadium.

Snow began falling heavily at the Air Force Academy as the final steel beam was hoisted into place.

With the beam secured, work on the $90 million project can soon transition to the interior phase, where work can commence without being hindered by exterior elements.

“To be at this point, right at the halfway point to continue the progress is really exciting,” said Nathan Pine, the athletic director who has spearheaded the renovations that will add 1,200 enclosed seats, a club level, a new entrance, heritage plaza, open-air hospitality decks, enhanced food and beverage options, updated restrooms, new merchandise area and a ticket office.

The ceremony on Friday, which included many in attendance signing the beam before it was lifted by a crane and placed by a three-person crew, marked something of a progress report, the first provided publicly since ground broke on the project in January.

The goal remains to open the east side in time for the 2024 football season, which is tentatively set for Aug. 31. Pine said any updates to that plan would be communicated during the summer, and he anticipated at least some phasing in of the full amenities during the 2024 and even the 2025 season.

Overall, thanks in part to favorable weather over the past few months, Pine said the project has avoided any major issues and is where it needs to be at this point.

“There’s always surprises in any construction project,” he said.

“As we work through our partners in (Washington) D.C. and folks here on campus, we always learn things and adjust how we’re approaching it.

“No showstoppers. I think that’s really the celebration today. We haven’t had anything that’s stopped progress on this.

“We’ve been delayed here and there and we’ve had to adjust. But at the end of the day we’re going to get this thing built and we’re going to have a great stadium because of it.”

Among those speaking at a frigid gathering of about 100 people on Friday was Air Force Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark. As a former football player, Clark has taken pride in having this project take place under his watch.

He won’t still be on the job when it is completed, as he will retire in 2024 and become the executive director of the College Football Playoff, but he said the renovations will rank high among his accomplishments as the academy’s leader.

“It ranks very high,” said Clark, who signed the beam with his football number (52) and his academy superintendent number (20th in its history).

“It ranks high because it’s something we’ve been trying to do for a long time. And there’s always been some roadblock that kept us from getting to this point. … We had the right people in place in the right positions, so we could actually get across the goal line.”