By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

CHELSEA – Staff and students at Chelsea Middle School are celebrating the completion of a large-scale renovation project lasting nearly a year.

Aimed at improving the campus and better accommodating the school’s growing student body, the project included aesthetic changes to the front entrance, gymnasium updates, new flooring, additional hallways and new restrooms.

Construction started in early 2015 and was originally set to finish by the start of the new school year in August, but delays pushed the target completion date on the roughly $1.75 million project forward several months.

“Our kids, our parents and the community were very patient as we worked to get all of this done, and thankfully, now it’s done,” ChMS Principal Andrew Gunn said in a Jan. 12 interview.

New floors were installed throughout the “main” building, along with an interior access point from the seventh grade hall to the eighth grade hall to relieve congestion between classes.

New bleachers and a floor were installed in the gym, and the stage floor was replaced.

New locker rooms were built under the gym for physical education and athletics, Gunn said.

New student lockers were added, too.

Landscaping work took place in the school’s courtyard, and the size of the awning at the front entrance increased.

“It’s been a huge, huge help,” Gunn said of the renovations. “Everything came out right where it needed to be. We’ve still got more room to grow now.”