Hartselle Fine Arts Center baord members Jennifer Sittason, Faye Walker, Bettye English and Randy Garrison break ground on the new ramp and elevator, that will make the center handicap accessible. | Brent Maze

The Hartselle Fine Arts Center is moving closer to being accessible to everyone who comes.

The center’s board of directors broke ground on its project to build a wheelchair-accessible ramp and elevator, which will make it handicap accessible.

Randy Garrison, the board’s chairman, said it was an exciting day for the Fine Arts Center.

“This is an important project for this center and the community,” Garrison said. “We are excited to be breaking ground on this project.”

Kelley Redmond, director of the Fine Arts Center, said they’ve wanted to make the center handicap accessible for a while, but they just haven’t had the funding to do it.

“During just about every event we have, there’s usually at least one person with special needs that cannot come up the stairs,” Redmond said. “This is something we really need.”

The price tag on the elevator and ramp will be between $350,000 and $400,000 and the board is continuing to raise money to build the ramp through the Project 11 fundraiser.

What board members are asking is that everyone give at least $11 by Nov. 11 to help fund the project.

So far, $2,488.79 has already been collected.

“We’re just asking everyone to give $11 by 11/11/11,” Redmond said.

The first phase of the project will build a ramp and will also prepare the building for the installation of the elevator. Phase 2 will be the installation of the elevator.