A helicopter crane on Friday lifted steel beams to University Hall’s 205-foot tall tower along Bancroft Street.

The $195,000 construction project will reinforce the most iconic campus building, which dates to 1931 when it was constructed by 400 laborers in under a year as the first building on the main campus. Napoeleon-based firm W.R. Meyers, Co. used a helicopter to lift beams from the sidewalk to the tower. The steel will be installed inside the bell tower to support the structural concrete, officials said. Work on University Hall, designed in the collegiate gothic-style, is expected to wrap up by Aug. 12, UT spokesman Rebecca Schwan said. During that time the building’s main entrance will be closed as a safety precaution. The work is part of $1.8 million worth of maintenance and waterproofing work occurring on campus, projects funded by the university’s capital fund, she said. University Hall houses administrative offices as well as the Doermann Theater.

First Published July 16, 2016, 6:01 a.m.