Robbins & Morton captured the Auburn spirit this week as we celebrated the completion of the Graduate Auburn Hotel.

At a ceremony to celebrate the installation of the final steel beam marking the project's structural completion, the Birmingham construction company hosted a bird of prey demonstration, featuring, of course, a golden eagle.

“Auburn is one of the most welcoming and special places I've ever been,” said Robbins & Morton Commercial Division Manager David Green. “It's a great city in itself with great amenities. This hotel will be a standout hotel where locals and visitors alike will come together to enjoy Auburn's hospitality and cultural celebration.”

The five-story, 177-room, approximately 140,000-square-foot hotel offers direct views of Auburn's campus and Toomer's Corner. It will feature an indoor and outdoor rooftop bar, a ground floor cafe, and meeting and banquet space.

The Auburn University Raptor Center, an education and rehabilitation program that has treated and released thousands of raptors into the wild, conducted demonstration flights and educational sessions for attendees at the ceremony.

The property is the latest addition to the Graduate Hotels collection, which includes more than 30 locations in cities and college towns across the United States and United Kingdom. Their designs are inspired by local culture, history and university nostalgia.

The project is expected to be completed this fall. Robins & Morton is the general contractor and Hartshorne Plunkard Architecture is the architect.