Sarasota Memorial and members of their design/build team are celebrating an important milestone this week – the official “topping out” of the five-story, $75 million Kolschowsky Research & Education Institute. The topping out is part of an age-old ritual that signifies that the new facility, located 1880 Arlington Street where the old Doctors Gardens medical office building used to stand, has reached its maximum height, in this case 82 feet. This month, workers are starting installation of support steel, exterior walls and windows, while others will focus on interior framing, electrical, mechanical, and plumbing systems. Roofing is expected to begin in March. Working in tandem with architects and engineers, the construction crew includes nearly 200 craft workers and a project management team that has invested more than 30,000 hours on the project since Doctor’s Gardens was demolished and site work began in early 2023. To date, crews have poured more than 10,000 tons of mixed concrete and installed more than 700 tons of reinforcing steel. When it opens in mid-2025, the Kolschowsky Research and Education Institute will be a state-of-the-art training and research center that expands research and training opportunities for physicians and clinicians caring for patients on the Suncoast. In addition to supporting clinical trials and research studies, the Institute will offer a range of education programs and state-of-the-art simulation center that expands hands-on training opportunities for physicians, nurses and students mastering new treatments and technologies. The roughly 80,000-square-foot institute will consolidate and promote Sarasota Memorial’s existing programs, while creating a collaborative and innovative environment that appeals to physicians and researchers and brings leading-edge treatments and specialists to the region. Sarasota Memorial’s research and graduate medical education programs have tripled in size in recent years, with more than 50 active studies under way and thousands of physicians competing for residency and fellowship opportunities at SMH each year. To watch a timelapse video of the first half of its construction, visit: https://youtu.be/FWclgWBm1CU.