TRAVERSE CITY — In terms of construction for the region’s largest school district, this summer promises to be unlike any other.
Traverse City Area Public Schools is tackling several major construction projects, in addition to routine summer maintenance and more minor updates. Christine Thomas-Hlil, assistant superintendent of finance and operations, said this year’s construction schedule was “very heavy,” mainly due to two projects: continuing energy upgrades and the Central Grade School transition into the Glenn Loomis building on 1009 Oak St.
The $36.6 million in energy-saving upgrades, being executed by Trane U.S. Inc., was approved in October 2024. The work includes upgrading lighting to LED, replacing 26 boilers, upgrading plumbing, installing new HVAC controls, replacing 260 heat pumps and more.
Thomas-Hill said Trane did half the work last summer and is scheduled to do the other half this summer. Twenty buildings in the district were approved for upgrades, and six buildings across the district will have work going on this summer.
Central Grade shuffle
Renovations for Central Grade begin this summer, a “big undertaking” that Thomas-Hill thinks of as the equivalent of “doing three elementary schools at one time.”
The school district will be run out of the Glenn Loomis building during the expected three-year construction. Glenn Loomis has been under construction for most of 2026 to bring it up to code and prepare for it to be used as a school once again.
Thomas-Hill said the schedule is “very tight” but the major construction and renovation projects are done at that school. The new fire alarm has been recently installed and tested, the gym has been freshly painted with a new floor installed and cleaners are coming through the building to deep clean it before the Central Grade move-in.
District officials hope to begin that move sometime during the week of June 29 and have the building ready for students once the school year is set to begin on Sept. 8 this fall.
Administration will be moving out of Glenn Loomis and into the old Sabin Elementary School building at 2075 Cass Road. The district has been working on upgrades to that building for the past year to house all of the administrative offices.
About $1.5 million in funding was approved last September for an addition to the building so that they could fit everyone and that work is expected to continue until early September this year. This may mean that a few people might have to relocate temporarily for a few weeks, Thomas-Hill said, but most of them will stay where they are currently working until they can move into the new offices.
Although work won’t begin at Central Grade School until closer to August, the district will be busy preparing for the construction throughout the summer.
They will be holding post-bid interviews this month with any contractors who appeared to submit low bids to make sure they didn’t miss any specifications. If their bid is pulled, they will move to the next lowest bidder and interview them.
In July, Moxie Estate Sales will be running an estate sale for the district sometime in mid-July at Central Grade. The district also will be installing a privacy fence around the building and other preliminary site set-up work and awarding the construction contracts.
Between August and October, the bulk of the demolition and abatement activities are expected, along with utility work. Earthwork will begin in October to prepare for the foundation and footing installations, which is expected to begin in November.
West Senior High parking lot
Another major project that may have an impact on families is Phase II of the West Senior High parking lot and drop-off loop. When the project began last summer, some people expressed frustration over the confusing and congestion-causing pathway through the half-finished project.
By the end of this summer, that project will be complete, creating a one-way loop around the outside of the school and adjacent parking lots.
Thomas-Hill said they conducted a study on two-way traffic and there were “so many pinch points that I think it would have backed up traffic more than anything else.”
Superintendent John VanWagoner said that, before, with the traffic moving between the parking lot and the school, people were “constantly walking across the road and there have been many people hit across time.”
District officials say they hope, by having the flow of traffic outside of where students are parking and walking, it will be safer.
The advantage of doing the project in two phases is that if something isn’t working with the design, it may still be fixable, Thomas-Hill said.
“So we’ve listened to any concerns. We’ve talked to the county. We’re hoping to make a couple adjustments that make getting out of the building a little bit easier. So that’s nice,” she said.
Currently, all parking lots except the two in the southwestern corner are closed. The entrance from Cedar Run is also closed after the athletic fields and there is a two-way pattern off Long Lake Road.
Spring time setbacks – and more Springtime weather added to TCAPS’s construction projects. A lightning strike at Courtade Elementary and heavy rains that exposed an old problem at the new administration building were unexpected complications to an already busy construction season for the district. At the new administration building, it was discovered that two restrooms and a janitor closet sink were connected to the storm drains, not the sanitary system, when runoff from the roof backed up into the toilets. The issue was tied to a plumbing issue from the 1960s that the district was unaware of, Thomas-Hill said. The issue has already been corrected and insurance covered the cost, she said. A lightning bolt that struck Courtade Elementary on May 18 caused electrical and technological damage. It fried the well pump and fire alarm panel. Staff had to walk the building every half hour whenever a fire watch was in place to meet safety requirements while the building was occupied. A temporary well pump has been installed to last through the summer, but a permanent upgrade of a new well pump is needed. The fire alarm system replacement will take more time – and cost about $200,000. The system needs to be upgraded because parts for the current unit aren’t available anymore and buying a new system means bringing it up to code. This will require installing pull stations in every room that has an exterior door, “so they’ll be touching every classroom,” Thomas-Hill said. Other Projects TCAPS has other items on its to-do list, including music room upgrades, the fieldhouse project, a greenhouse, and more. West Middle School is getting renovations to the library, orchestra, little theatre and band room over the summer which are expected to be complete in time for the new school year. A new addition to the building for the choir will not be ready until November. The $17.2 million Afterschool Clubhouse and Multi-Purpose Fieldhouse project is continuing with underground utility work happening over the summer. Construction on the steel structure of the fieldhouse is expected to begin in September, with the work continuing throughout the winter. Central High School will have a new greenhouse next year. The building is going up this summer with an expected completion date around Aug. 31. It will be used for classroom instruction. TCAPS Board of Education Trustee Ty Schmidt said he thinks TCAPS is ahead of the curve in terms of experiential learning and, although the exact classroom applications are not laid out yet, “I’m pumped for it. I’m excited and I’m glad we’re going in that direction.” The district will replace two elevators, one at Central High and one at West Senior High, to meet new state standards and regulations. The hydraulic systems will be replaced with more efficient electrical, gearless systems that don’t require an extra machine room.