TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Area Public Schools will bring the community together to review Central High School renovations at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 28.
The meeting, in the Central High School cafeteria, will include an informational presentation and an opportunity for people to share their thoughts on the proposed $25.5-million project.
The district will try to record and/or livestream the meeting for those unable to attend, Superintendent Dr. John VanWagoner said.
The renovation of the high school’s main office and gym areas, part of a 2024 bond, was aimed at creating a single secure entryway to the school, a larger gym, increase ADA accessibility, create space for the growing wrestling program and improve line-of-sight and student flow.
The project has been progressing since the bond was approved, and the board voted unanimously in July 2025 to move into the design phase.
Final designs have not yet been reviewed or approved.
“We’ve had a lot of feedback, the board has, about the gym at Central High School,” VanWagoner said.
Multiple people spoke at the board’s September study session to voice their surprise and displeasure at learning of the district’s plan to demolish the old gym and build a new one in its place as part of the project.
VanWagoner said the landlocked building site is the hardest part of the project. District officials looked at expanding into the parking lot and losing spaces to park; building into the grass field and taking practice area; or building over the courtyard that students use for eating and recreating.
“Wherever you do something, somebody loses something,” he said.
At the September meeting, members of the board responded to the public input, asking VanWagoner to organize a follow-up meeting.
“There was some community feedback that wanted to understand what the board had reviewed,” he said.
The community meeting will include representatives from the project’s architectural and engineering firms, TMP Architecture and Miller Davis, and Assistant Superintendent Christine Thomas-Hill will provide an overview of the project’s evolution and the design options the board initially considered.
There could be another “rough draft” option to consider at the meeting as well. VanWagoner said he and Thomas-Hill have begun working on a new design, but the details and costs are currently limited.
“We do not have yet the preliminary numbers and engineering and architectural feedback of what that might look like – and probably won’t until the first of next week,” he said.
With that timeline, board members could have access to the new option a week before the community meeting and provide feedback or ask questions ahead of time.
The community meeting will be primarily used to share information and gather public feedback. President Erica Moon Mohr said that any potential decisions would be brought back for the full board to consider.
Also, if no more than three board members attend the community meeting, it will avoid a quorum. VanWagoner stressed that trustees will need to make sure they don’t talk amongst themselves to “try and deliberate for any decision-making,” he said.
“To not formalize it maybe allows for more candid, open discussion,” said Trustee Matthew Schmidt.