Chelsea Community Center completion delayed

It will still be a few months until Chelsea residents can enjoy their new community center, as the grand opening has been delayed due to weather and changes in the plans.

Chelsea city treasurer Lori King said that even once the outside is completed, the city still has to furnish the inside.

“It probably won’t be until end of August, maybe September,” King said.

Construction on the $3.68 million, 29,000-square-foot facility began in June 2014. Bob Wanninger, the architect for the project, said the project is still going, just slowly. Last week, he met with the contractor, Argo Building, and Chelsea Mayor Earl Niven about the project, but said the contractor wasn’t forthcoming with any definitive scheduling.

“The place is looking great and the contractor is doing an excellent job,” Wanninger said. “It’s more complicated than what it looks like from [the] road, especially with all the mechanical and electrical systems.”

Wanninger said Niven is currently in the process of hiring a director for the community center, and once on board, they can start sending things out and hopefully get a date for the facility to begin serving the community.

“That’s one of our major concerns right now is our opening date,” Wanninger said. “There is great interest in it.”