LORAIN, Ohio- For the first time in almost three months, the doors to Admiral King Elementary School in Lorain opened to the public Tuesday afternoon, after a strange smell shut it down.

“It’s very exciting.  Students and staff are ecstatic about coming back,” said Pamela Szegedy, executive director for teaching and learning with Lorain City Schools.

Admiral King Elementary hosted an open house from 4-6 p.m. for parents, students, staff, and the community to come in and see the school.

“The students are scheduled to come back the Monday after break, January 5. And when they come back, everything will be back to normal.  So, the goal of the open house is to ensure parents, students, and staff that everything is back to normalcy.  It was as the day they left here,” said Szegedy.

Schools officials said the fire marshal approved occupancy for Admiral King earlier this month.

Admiral King Elementary on Washington Avenue has been closed since Oct. 2 when a strange smell was first detected.

The gas was coming from an old, capped gas well located under the gymnasium floor. Tucker said crews knocked down a wall and drilled along the pipe in order to stop the leak.

“Crews removed the wall and carefully removed the roof so a drilling rig could come into the gym,” said Kevin Haupt, associate director of operations at Lorain City Schools.

While Admiral King was closed, students and staff were relocated to three other buildings.

School officials said everyone is ready to come back to their familiar classrooms.

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