Ledyard — Spirits were high in the center of Ledyard on Monday afternoon as town and construction officials broke ground at the future site of the new police facility.

"The last time I saw this, I was in a lot of trouble," joked Steve Juskiewicz, chairman of the Permanent Municipal Building Committee, nodding toward the group of Ledyard police in attendance.

Much of the large crowd laughed before Juskiewicz went on to explain what's held up the $6.75 million project that voters approved in May 2013.

The property at 741 Colonel Ledyard Highway presented two primary issues.

Because it's small and next to Town Hall, some time was spent figuring out how to create a site that could accommodate both buildings operating at the same time.

Workers also discovered the town was losing thousands of gallons of water a month in part because of a convoluted water system.

The discovery forced the town, even after it rerouted the water to Town Hall and shut off the old line, to wait through this year's rainy season — January through May — before Ledge Light Health District would give the go-ahead for the project.

Now, Mayor John Rodolico said, workers are hoping to have the foundation in by the end of the month. They also are aiming to have the building closed in by the end of the year, which would allow crews to work through the winter.

"Today marks the latest but not the last of Ledyard's continued investment in our residents, our infrastructure, our emergency services, our children and our schools," Rodolico said.

Town Council Chairman Linda Davis also made mention of the upcoming $65.8 million school project, which will renovate as new Gallup Hill Elementary School and Ledyard Middle School and demolish Ledyard Center School.

"It occurred to me that many of us on the Town Council have never been to a groundbreaking before," Davis said. "Yet we have two more ahead of us, and that's good news."

She noted that the Ledyard police made what was supposed to be a temporary move to their 7,000-square-foot headquarters on Lorenz Industrial Parkway — which has been criticized as cramped and decaying — in 1995.

"It's been a few temporary years," Davis said, smiling.

Once finished, the more than 11,300-square-foot, two-story building at 737 and 741 Colonel Ledyard Highway — also featuring landscaping, a new parking lot and other improvements — will become the new home of the Ledyard police.

"To me (the groundbreaking) is like the capstone of the time I've spent here," Rodolico said. "But, again, it happened because of a lot of people working together."

l.boyle@theday.com

Twitter: @LindsayABoyle