The renovation of the old Welsh High School home economics cottage is nearing completion after nearly a decade of work.

Friends of the Welsh Museum President Jim Wright said Friday that the project is about 89 percent complete and is expected to be finished by the end of May. A dedication ceremony is being planned for June.

The cottage’s interior has been gutted, the exterior has been painted, and new windows are scheduled for installation soon. Once completed, the building at the corner of West Hudspeth and South Kennedy street, will be renamed the Hazel Benoit Center for Home and Family, in honor of the school’s long-time home economics teacher.

“Our goal is to have a center that will provide service, support and recreation to the community,” Wright said. “It will be a wonderful facility to have, a place to grow and connect families and the community.”

Former mayor and museum president Mary Sue Lyon said plans for the project began as an art center but have expanded to focus more on community support.

Lyon and Wright envision the 2,000-square-foot center offering programs on cooking, banking, childcare, sewing and other skills to educate the community. They hope to add an outdoor area to teach others about barbecuing and outdoor cooking safety.

“The whole idea of the center is to support and teach to help build our homes and families,” Wright said.

In addition, meeting spaces, including a coffee and tea room, will be available for the public to use.

Local contractor Bobby Doucet, who has been overseeing the renovation, expressed his excitement about the center’s progress. He recalls his initial visit to the building, where he encountered a leaky roof, broken windows and exposed bricks and plaster.

“It was a disaster,” he said.

The Friends of the Welsh Museum initiated their fundraising efforts for the project in 2013, organizing fundraising dinners and selling cookbooks that featured Benoit’s recipes, old school photographs, and student memoirs. Windows were also sold to donors to commemorate loved ones.

The museum received additional funding through a $200,000 grant from Rep. Troy Romero and Sen. Mark Abraham.

Built in 1938, the structure was initially the home economics cottage until 1959, when those  classes moved to the high school. Subsequently, it functioned as a library and provided a storage area for the hospital. After being vacant for several years, Frances, Benoit’s daughter, and her husband, Dwight Winstead, who had once planned to use it as a home, donated it to the museum in 2013.