It was a somewhat unconventional “topping off” ceremony for Oak Harbor High School’s new student union building Thursday afternoon.

“Topping off” ceremonies are a common practice in the United States and mark the mid-point of construction, when the highest point of the building is safely constructed.

Workers will often sign the final beam or, in Scandinavian tradition, place an evergreen tree on top of the building.

But Wednesday’s snowfall prevented crews from hoisting the girder.

“Until about 12, everything was frozen so we don’t have our crane operator,” project manager Mitch Romero said. “It will be a symbolic ceremony.”

Instead, crews propped the beam sideways on the ground outside of the school entrance.

A crowd of students, teachers and school officials used a white marker to scrawl their names, and in one case, a phone number.

Special education teacher Ed Coleman joked that he would like to outlast his signature on the beam.

“This ceremony is neat. It puts a little of the teachers and students into the building,” he said.

The student union building will be officially “topped out” next month since crews have fallen behind.

While the ceremony was premature, said Romero, he’s glad to have the stakeholders involved.

When asked if he thought the ceremony would bring luck, Superintendent Rick Schulte replied “absolutely.”

“The skies are clear and a bald eagle just flew over. Everyone is enthused.”

As the crowd dispersed, school officials ducked under the beam and scrawled, “Go Wildcats!”

The new two-story building will house the auditorium, a cafeteria, and new band and choir rooms, and is slated for completion by August.

Students will have access to the new career and technical building by April 2.

Overall, the high school’s modernization project will be completed January 2011 and will cost about $72 million.