Chelsea celebrates 20th anniversary, community center

A few weeks after the city of Chelsea turned 20, residents and city officials gathered to celebrate.

Around 100 people gathered at the Chelsea Community Center to celebrate the city’s 20th anniversary, which was officially in March, and attend a ribbon cutting ceremony for the building. Mayor Earl Niven said Chelsea had plenty of reasons to rejoice as they looked back on the city’s history.

“Let me tell you, everything that happens in Chelsea goes back to the latter part of 1995 and the early part of 1996, where we incorporated as a city,” Niven said. 

When Chelsea decided to incorporate 20 years ago, Niven said it was fueled by a desire to protect Chelsea’s values and to ensure the city had a chance to grow along U.S. 280.

“If they had gotten Highway 280, we would not have anything to form a city for revenue because Highway 280 is our breadbasket,” Niven said. “So there’ s a group of people who stuck out hard times getting this city incorporated.”

Niven recognized those that worked on the incorporation committee and thanked them for their hard work throughout the process.

All past city council members were also recognized and read out a list of some of the city’s accomplishments during their terms. The milestones ranged from the city’s incorporation with a population of 906 to its current population of more than 12,000 as well as the various city projects such as the Highway 39 sports complex and new fire stations.

Former council members Shelby Blackerby and Earlene Isbell were on the first city council from 1996 to 2000. Blackerby said the process of annexation during the first few years was a difficult task, but she had plenty of help to make the process successful.

“We had more people who wanted to come into the city than wanted to stay out of the city,” Blackerby said.

People may say the past 20 years have gone quickly or they have gone slowly, Niven said, but Chelsea has much more to look forward to in the future.

“We’re very proud of where we are as a city,” Niven said. “We’ve got a great foundation to take off because the future is before us for the city of Chelsea.”