Acella Construction Corp. broke ground on the Hingham Heritage Museum project." width="300" height="197" /> Shown (From left) are: Carl Achille, Hingham Historical Society (HHS) board member; Ryan Klebes, senior project manager, Acella; Dave Dirubbo, president, Acella; Michael Studley, HHS board of directors president; Sally Weston, project architect and HHS board member; Mark Cullings, HHS board member; and Suzanne Buchanan, HHS executive director.

Hingham, MA Acella Construction Corp. broke ground on the Hingham Heritage Museum project.  The $2.5 million project encompasses the renovation and restoration of Old Derby Academy and the Museum, and is scheduled to take one year to complete.

Acella’s project team, with expertise in local cultural and historic projects, won the unanimous support from the board of the Hingham Historical Society to restore the 1818 Old Derby Academy Building, one of the town’s most historic landmarks. The project will include a new 4,600 s/f addition and the repair/restoration of foundations, windows, chimneys and other parts of the 1818 building. It will also enlarge the Visitor Center, expand the collections storage and workspace areas for volunteers and staff, and create an outdoor program event space for up to 200 guests.

Local and state dignitaries and museum donors and stakeholders were present for the groundbreaking, as was Mike Studley, president of the Hingham Heritage Museum, Dave Dirubbo, president of Acella, and Ryan Klebes, project lead for Acella. The groundbreaking took place September 8, 2015.

 Dave Dirubbo, president of Acella, said, “We are very excited to be involved in a project such as this that means so much to the community.  Old Derby is so much more than just a physical structure but an embodiment of the past, present, and future of Hingham.  It is gratifying to contribute to its restoration.”