City of LEDs

Military Appreciation Parade

A preview of another series…

Fighter jets rip through Raleigh

Soldiers await the start of the parade

Work on the L building parking structure

We get it, the Mint has well-off patrons

Wachovia

Raleigh Wide Open, I mean the Parade

Passing out flags

Martin Street

Uncle Sam was tall.

A parade watcher

Durham, from Raleigh.

Overcast view from Louisburg Road

Looking west from the pinnacle of RBC Plaza

RBC Plaza Crown

Looking North

Construction workers await the first piece in the morning sun.

RBC Plaza ready for its crown.

Unidentified helicopter monitoring the event.

Making final adjustments.

Removing the temporary wheels.

It begins to rise.

Standing up.

Up it goes.

Near the top.

Almost there.

A different angle.

Southeast corner goes first.

3 other similar pieces will rise, and finally the spire.

3rd section lifting.

This weekend we should begin to see RBC Plaza reach its final height before the spire is attached. One of the four pieces of the decorative crown were moved to the middle of Martin Street in preparation for placement at around the 446 foot mark. Here are a few quick snapshots:

Each piece kind of resembles the space ship in the Atari game asteroids.

RBC Plaza Crown Section

Head-on (apply directly to the…)

I bet the view from that staircase is pretty nice.

Tower Crane

The flag was added sometime Friday.