It's the beginning of the finale.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the second phase of the Merrill Community Arts Center will run from 5-6 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, on the grounds of East Ridge High School in Woodbury.

Plans call for a black box theater attached to the high school, following the summer 2011 opening of the arts center’s 8,000-square-foot Rivertown Drive location.

Initially envisioned as a single facility, the arts center was spread across two locations after higher than expected construction bids came in.

The bulk of the funding for the arts center came from the estate of 40-year Woodbury resident Dorothy K. Merrill, who died in November 2009.

“She wanted to do something to help the city," Susan Flaherty, a longtime friend of Merrill, told Patch when the plans were first announced in 2010. "It looks like (the new arts center) will be a great facility, and she'd be pleased that there's something bricks and mortar that she can be remembered by."

Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Twitter | Sign up for our newsletter