Nearly a year after Portsmouth School and city officials broke ground, the Portsmouth Middle School renovation project is getting closer to completion.

On Wednesday morning, construction crews with Gilbane Building Company of Bedford were hard at work creating the actual building and other aspects of the $37.5 million project. City and school officials broke ground on the new project on June 6, 2011.

When completed in 2013, the 250,000 square-foot addition that was designed by DeStefano Architects of Portsmouth and JCJ Architects will be three stories and include a state-of-the-art recreation center that will take the place of the Connie Bean Recreation Center on Daniel Street.

What follows is an image gallery showing the work that has been completed to date at the construction site. Every few months, Portsmouth Patch will do more image galleries as the project continues to come together.