The new Eastern Elementary is just about ready to open its doors.
 
The Ticker went inside the newly renovated 59,000-square-foot elementary school (pictured above) late last week. The Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) says the school is virtually finished and ready for final inspection. TCAPS believes the project, which began in April 2017, will finish both under budget and ahead of schedule.
 
Final building inspections at the Eastern property are scheduled for August 20, with the official grand opening and ribbon cutting to follow a week later. New student orientation will follow on August 28, while an Eastern family school open house and ice cream social are planned for August 30. Students will attend their first day of school in the building on Tuesday, September 4.
 
Initially, TCAPS expected to open Eastern Elementary for the new school year but finish the final construction work during the first few weeks of school. The original plans included a wing of classrooms that were not scheduled for completion until September 28. Now, TCAPS says that the entire building is done and that no additional work will be required after the start of the school year.
 
TCAPS now turns it attention to putting the finishing touches on the building. Still left on the agenda are tasks like furniture placement, landscaping, mulch delivery for the playground, asphalt top coat application for the parking lot, parking lot striping, installation of bleachers in the gym, and a final round of cleaning.
 
The August 27 grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony will be open to the public and will include guided tours of the new building. The event will run from 5:30-7:30pm.