Monmouth students and officials celebrated the start of a state-funded construction project that will replace the town’s middle and grade schools on Tuesday night, using shovels to ceremonially break the ground on which the new school will stand.

The state has agreed to pay for the construction of the new, 70,000-square foot facility, which is expected to open in January 2020. The school will be located next to Monmouth Academy and educate students from pre-kindergarten to eighth grade.

Monmouth area officials help break ground on the town's new middle-elementary school on the evening of July 31. The school, which is expected to open in January 2020, is being mostly funded by the state. Photo by Michelle Rooney

On hand for the celebration were officials from the town and Regional School Unit 2, the school district that includes Monmouth. State representatives were there, along with some kids who will actually benefit from the new building.

“The bids have been awarded, and construction is commencing in the next couple weeks,” said Jim Grandahl, a Monmouth parent who sits on the RSU 2 board of education and heads the district’s school construction committee. “It’s a ceremonial groundbreaking to commemorate this momentous event.”

Charles Eichacker — 621-5642

ceichacker@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @ceichacker