All eyes Tuesday morning were on a giant crane that lowered an elevator beam though the roof of Atascadero’s historic Administration Building.

The 50-foot piston will be used in the new elevator in the four-story structure, which is undergoing major repairs to damage sustained during the 2003 San Simeon earthquake.

The project, which started in 2010, reached its halfway point last month. The building is slated to reopen in 2013 for Atascadero’s centennial.