The new Safety Harbor Museum and Cultural Center is preparing for its grand opening on Friday following more than a year of planning and construction.

For Safety Harbor residents and visitors, the event will mark the first opportunity to view the remodeled Bayshore Boulevard facility since it closed in March.

That's when the old Safety Harbor Museum of Regional History shuttered its doors, making way for the new city-run cultural center, which will combine the historical aspects of the museum with activities and classes associated with a recreation center.

"We want people to come in and experience so many different things, meet new people and connect with the community," facility director Shannon Shafer said recently.

“We want everybody to experience it at least once,” she said. “But we really want people to frequent it and make it a regular stop.”

In honor of the grand opening on Friday, Patch has put together a photographic time line of the construction.

Because we just launched this site in September, we don't have a lot of early photos of the museum or the construction. If any Safety Harbor Patch readers have pictures they'd like to share, feel free to upload them here.