Work crews are making headway at Hooksett’s old Village School in converting the antiquated building into a town hall and community center.

The hope is to wrap up construction in February said Hooksett Town Administrator David Jodoin, who has been putting volunteer effort into the renovations along with many other Hooksett residents.

Resident Jim Levesque and Southern New Hampshire University’s Daryl Dreffs were presented with award certificates at a Town Council meeting on Nov. 26 for their work on the school. Levesque spent long hours on Saturdays doing the electrical wiring for the building and Dreffs worked on the data and phone cables.

“It’s good use of an old building,” said Levesque of the project, noting the cramped space of the current town offices and lack of storage room.

At Town Meeting two years ago, voters approved the project and a year later $500,000 in funds to turn the building and 15 acres of land over to the town from the school district’s hands and pay for the renovations.

The intent is for the building to house all of the town offices currently located in the Town Hall at 4 Main St. and provide space for community functions.

The gymnasium in the building will be cleaned up and pretty much left unchanged for this purpose, Jodoin said.

Currently, crews are finishing the painting. Carpeting and tiling still needs to be done, as well as plumbing.

Before he passed away in January, Alan St. Pierre constructed a safe at the school, donating about $5,000 worth of labor and materials, Jodoin said, and finished in about a day and a half.

“He’s always been the type of person to help out with the town,” Jodoin said. “Everytime I go in there and I see (the safe), it brings back the memories.”

The main entrance will be at the back of the building, allowing people to walk up to the second floor and access the administration, finance, planning, building and human resource departments among others. The new Town Council chambers will be on the first floor. There are currently wheelchair lifts at the staircases to make the building handicap accessible, which need to be repaired before the building can open, Jodoin said.

Emergency Management Director Albert Dionne is looking at grants to further upgrade the building, including funds for a full-service kitchen that would give the community an emergency location, in case of evacuations, from the Cawley School.

The older front section of the building has not been touched yet, Jodoin said, but the plan is to restore that section to its original character.