The erector-set supports outside the former Watt & Shand department store are up and the last of the building behind the facade will soon be coming down.

Construction company Caldwell, Heckles & Egan finished the facade stabilization — the erection of steel caissons to support the facade — on Jan. 19, John Luzik, told members of the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority board Wednesday.

And, Empire Wrecking has restarted demolition of the store structure, said Luzik, of Reynolds Construction, the authority's construction management company.

Only the ornate face of the building — held by the steel beams — will be left in about four weeks, said Luzik.

But, he added, work has already begun on the construction of the planned 220,000-square-foot meeting center and attached 300-room Marriott hotel.

An excavation company has drilled holes and poured 41 of the 198 concrete caissons needed to support the foundation of the new structure. Forms for concrete walls are also being put in place, said Luzik.

The authority is building the center along South Queen Street in conjunction with the private-sector Penn Square Partners, which is developing the hotel on the former store site on land now owned by the Lancaster City Redevelopment Authority.

A late-summer 2008 opening is expected for the $170 million project.

The construction update was a part of the authority's monthly meeting, which was rescheduled from a date three weeks earlier.

The board also voted to retain the current leadership of the board, with Chairman Ted Darcus, Vice Chairman Joe Morales, Treasurer Willie Borden and Secretary David Schwanger.

All four board officers are Lancaster City appointees to the joint board, which also includes members appointed by the Lancaster County Commissioners.

The leadership is due to change in September when Darcus' term expires. At that time, the county commissioners will name a new board member and the composition of the board with change to a majority of county appointees.

Commissioners Molly Henderson and Dick Shellenberger are opposed to the project. They previously appointed three authority board members who have been critical of authority operations.

The appointment of a project opponent could trigger the reactivation of a lawsuit filed against the commissioners.

Last year, the Convention Center Authority, Penn Square Partners and city Redevelopment Authority successfully sued Henderson and Shellenberger to stop them from rescinding a partial guarantee on the project's construction bonds.

A part of that lawsuit, on which the judge did not rule, sought to prevent the naming of a known opponent to the board.

The convention center board Wednesday did not take action to complete the financing for the project. Financial adviser Tom Beckett told them it will likely take four weeks before the remaining details are finalized and $65 million in construction bonds are ready to be marketed.

Penn Square Partners consists of general partner Penn Square General Corp., a High Industries affiliate, and limited partners Fulton Bank and Penn Square Ltd., LLC, an affiliate of Lancaster Newspapers Inc., publisher of the Lancaster New Era, Intelligencer Journal and Sunday News.

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