The wind was cold but the sun was bright as the justices of the Georgia Supreme Court and the judges of the Georgia Court of Appeals signed the final beam to top the $127 million building that will be home to the state's high and intermediate appellate courts.

“I can't believe this is happening. I have to pinch myself,” said the lead architect on the job, Bill Clark, president of the Atlanta office of Stevens & Wilkinson. “We've been talking about this for 20 years.”

Clark guessed that maybe Roy Barnes was governor of Georgia when his firm first began the dream stages of designing a dedicated home for the state's appellate courts. It could have been Zell Miller, he added.

But it was Gov. Nathan Deal who at last signed legislation to put the dream down on paper and find the money to pay for it.

Clark has worked on other iconic Atlanta construction projects: Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Central Library in downtown Atlanta. The latter has become one of the country's most famous examples of Brutalist architecture. But for the judicial building, the state's leaders wanted a more traditional design, one that would blend in with other state offices and the Capitol, whose gold dome comes clearly into view from the construction site on Memorial Drive.

Clark's architectural firm and the general contractor, Gilbane, shared a private lunch with the judges and justices in the heated quarters of the biggest in a small village of construction trailers on the site. Afterward, the judges and justices strolled out wearing hard hats, goggles and yellow-and-orange vests. They gathered around that last beam—topped with a tiny evergreen tree, as building tradition dictates for luck, and the Georgia and U.S. flags. They signed their names with extra fat Sharpie markers. Then they climbed into open air construction elevators and rode up the side of the building to take a private tour.

The bulk of the financing came from $105 million worth of bonds sold in 2017, according to Building Authority Executive Director Steve Stancil. The total price tag for the project is up to about $127 million, according to the latest figures from the building authority chief financial officer, shared by Morgan Smith-Williams, public relations coordinator for the State Properties Commission and Building Authority. So far, about $119 million has been appropriated for construction, design and site preparation. That includes demolition and cleanup from the state archives building that was on the site. Plus, at the moment, the Georgia Building Authority has $8.5 million set aside for furniture, fixtures and equipment related to the building.

The topping-out event had been delayed by the death of retired Chief Justice P. Harris Hines, who had helped plan the building. His colleagues mourned him, as they said, with heavy hearts. Then the event was delayed again by rain.

But on Tuesday the clouds cleared, and the mood lifted. Chief Justice Harold Melton chose to forgo the expected ceremonial remarks. But he did add one more signature to the beam: P. Harris Hines. As the high court's public information officer Jane Hansen said, “He was there in spirit.”