NILES — The week before school started, Brandywine Community Schools district officials broke ground on a brand-new community center that will provide ample gymnasium space for Brandywine Middle/High School students.

Ron Bartz, the district’s maintenance coordinator, said he was excited to see the building get its start.

“It does not look like much because there is nothing but flat ground and a couple of tiers sticking up right now,” Bartz said. “When the steel gets going, it will look and feel a whole lot better. Everybody know that we are actually putting up something that’s going to be a benefit to the kids for a longtime to come.”

In January, school officials were ironing out the design details for the project and announced that they anticipated breaking ground in April. Brandywine Community Schools District Superintendent Karen Weimer said due to delays from the state department in approving the project, construction was pushed back. While the ground-breaking took place recently, she said construction actually began in July.

In April, the district put out bids and selected Gibson-Lewis, LLC to build the facility. The Mishawaka, Indiana-based company was the lowest bidder, offering to construct the building for $1.7 million. Bartz said officials were anticipating construction to cost about $2 million, so the bid was just slightly under budget. Bartz said the project is currently on budget and that it is being paid for from the district’s general fund.

The new 14,400-square-foot facility will be located on the north end of the high school. The facility will include a full-size basketball court, three volleyball courts and a walking track. The weight room, which is currently operating out of two classrooms, will also be moved to the new space. A hallway will connect the community center with the main school building. The building will also be open to the community to use the walking track during the day. Bartz said school officials are still determining how the community will be granted access.

The Brandywine Community Schools Board of Education first began discussing the project late 2016. They outlined how the current gym cannot accommodate the number of student athletes and sports teams looking to use the space. Because of this, students sometimes are forced to go to late night practices or use only half a court for practice.

“This will be a big relief for that,” Bartz said.

Bartz said the new space, which will be air conditioned, will also provide a home for many summer programs and youth camps. In the coming weeks, Bartz said he looks forward to seeing the building take shape.

“It’s nice to see a lot of hours put into meetings and design development come together,” he said. “It was nice to have a ground-breaking ceremony and I think it will be real nice to have an opening ceremony there.”