City Hall to stay open but with a skeleton crew
The City and Chelsea Public Schools announced that school will be canceled tomorrow, March 13, due to the COVID-19 concerns and other measures will be contemplated as things go forward.
City Manager Tom Ambrosino announced the closure with Supt. Almi Abeyta – that coming one day after the Clark Avenue School was closed Wednesday out of extreme caution when an adult staff member who had traveled to Italy began to feel ill. That person was cleared and the Clark opened Thursday, March 12.
Now, though, all schools will be closed.
On the City side, Ambrosino said City Hall, the Library and the Senior Center will be open with limited operations going forward. While Everett closed down all of its municipal operation Thursday, Chelsea wasn’t quite at the same point, Ambrosino said.
“I do expect we will scale down operations in the coming weeks,” he said. “Those decisions remain to be seen. It is a rapidly changing situation. We will remain open at City Hall in the future, but perhaps at a skeleton crew. It’s a very fluid situation, but that’s where we’re at as of 5:30 p.m. Thursday.”
He said the Senior Center on Riley Way will remain open as well, but events like Bingo and large activities (like the St. Patrick’s Day party) will be canceled.
“We want to make sure seniors aren’t isolated at this trying time, but we will review that every day,” he said. “Other places like Everett have closed things, but we’re not at that point in Chelsea.”
Stay tuned for more updates later tonight or tomorrow. Check the Record’s Twitter feed for updated information as well.