A crane picked up a 60-pound slab of limestone off the ground and lifted it 30 feet in the air.



It dangled above some scaffolding next to the eastern wall of the Regional Performing Arts Center's concert hall.



Shawn Beaty, a bricklayer with Hagerman, walked over and communicated with the lift driver through headphones and a microphone.

"Coming down, coming down," said the 33-year-old from Muncie, as he reached for the plank and helped direct it to a stack of limestone blocks.



"Landing. Hold that," he said and untied the plank. "Good job," and the hook and crane move away. Meanwhile, two other workers set a block of limestone on the wall behind him.



The 4-foot-by-16-inch limestone slab also will become part of the second-floor exterior wall of the $118 million concert hall, which is scheduled for completion in November 2010.



The hall is part of a larger, $150 million project that will include two theaters.



Almost the entire exterior of the hall will be covered in 30,000 to 35,000 cubic feet of hand-cut limestone, said project manager Mike Anderson.



The limestone facade of the north side of the building is almost complete -- with limestone blocks on the walls, fake columns, window trims and detailed edges along the top. The design is becoming more evident every day, and with one side well completed, it allows the imagination to picture the entire building covered and detailed in limestone.

Beaty, who is one of 50-55 people working on the limestone portion of the project, has never worked on a building with so much limestone in it.



"It's going to be really nice," he said. "It's different. It's new to everybody. You can tell by people walking by. When we removed the scaffolding, and you could see the limestone, you can tell they liked it."



The stone comes from an 85- to 90-year-old quarry, south of Bloomington, and is hand cut and fabricated by Bybee Stone in Ellettsville, said the president, Will Bybee.



"A lot of art goes into this," Anderson said. "With each piece they make, they create a true piece of history. They take a lot of pride in it."



Depending on the size and intricacy, it can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 100 hours just in the stonecutting process, Bybee said. At least 60 employees at Bybee are working on the stone for the concert hall, he said.



Bybee's stonecutters visit the finished buildings to see what their workmanship helped create, other than in just photos.



"What they see is just pieces of stone running through the plant -- it's hard to put together (an image)," he said.



Bybee stone has been part of many high-profile buildings and projects, including finishing the last 10 years of the Washington National Cathedral in D.C., replacing the stone at the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack, and restoring the U.S. Capitol almost 25 years ago, he said. When Bybee's employees take vacations, they make sure to stop by those places.



"I've been trying to talk (Bybee) into bringing a bus with all his workers to see their limestone installed when it is done here," Anderson said, chuckling.



The city is paying about $3 million for the limestone -- making payments each time it gets a delivery, Anderson said. The project is using more than 15,000 pieces of limestone in all shapes and sizes, each that have to be lifted and moved to their future locations with a crane, Anderson said.



With each cubic foot weighing 144 pounds, the project is quite heavy. Some of the heavier pieces, like the 13-foot-long, 10,000-pound cornices rimming the top edges of the building, must hang in place with a crane while workers work quickly to set them.



Six thick columns have been built in what will become the main entrance. Each column shaft is made up of six 7,000-pound pieces of limestone, Bybee said. The capitals, which look like crowns on the top ends, each weigh 4,500 pounds and were set Monday morning.



"I think it's great with what has gotten done, but when it's completed it will be a beautiful building," Bybee said. "We are very proud to do this kind of work. So much work (in other projects) is trim work, but we really like all-stone building. It is going to be quite a statement for Carmel."