Stonington — With the falling rain threatening to turn the piles of dirt into mud, school and town officials, along with students, celebrated the groundbreaking for the West Vine Street School renovation and expansion project on Tuesday afternoon.

The groundbreaking followed a similar one on Monday at Deans Mill School, which also will be expanded and renovated as part of a $67 million project scheduled to get underway in the next few weeks and be completed in the fall of 2018. Both schools are a half-century old.

“This building is old. It has to be refreshed,” said First Selectmen Rob Simmons, who waved a new census data map that shows Stonington has the highest population growth of any town in the state.

“One reason they come here is our schools,” he said.

After a group of officials, along with representatives of the firms involved in the project, tossed shovelfuls of dirt, and Principal Alicia Sweet Dawe and Vice Principal Kathryn Irvine joined a group of their students to do the same.

Dawe told the small crowd that the renovation project had been talked about for many years. She said the school community “is more than excited” about the start of the project.

Superintendent of Schools Van Riley thanked the community for funding the project so students have the facility they need.

“This is just a wonderful thing for our community,” he said.

Construction Manager Peter Manning of the Gilbane Building Co. said that he had three children go though the school 14 years ago and at that time he said he thought something had to be done with the building. Now he is intimately involved with the construction.

K-12 School Building Committee Chairman Rob Marseglia said he wanted to thank everyone in town for supporting the project.

"This is about the kids,” he said, and bringing the school into the 21st century.

As the rain came down harder, Marseglia said he was looking forward to a sunny day for the ribbon cutting of the new school.

j.wojtas@theday.com