Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) trustees are weighing three major projects representing an estimated $90 million in planned construction work: the reconstruction of Central Grade School, renovations at Central High School, and upgraded facilities for all four secondary school music departments. Architects for the projects – which would be primarily financed out of the district’s $180 million 2024 capital bond but could also overlap with a future bond – will soon create options for trustees to consider as they work to finalize costs and designs.

Central Grade School
The largest project – with an estimated budget of over $55 million – is the reconstruction of Central Grade School. According to a proposed timeline, staff would start relocating from Central Grade to Glenn Loomis over the summer of 2026, with students starting at Glenn Loomis for the 2026-27 school year. Once vacant, construction work would begin at Central Grade. The project is expected to take three years, with students returning to Central Grade for the 2029-30 school year.

TCAPS held two recent visioning sessions with parents, students, staff, neighbors, and community stakeholders on the future of Central Grade. According to TCAPS Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Christine Thomas-Hill, several areas of consensus emerged. Participants generally wanted to maintain the historic footprint of the school and its large front lawn, which is used for Field Day and other activities. Staff said they were fine to continue parking on the street if it meant maintaining the lawn and preserving visitor parking.

Separating the cafeteria from its hallway area to reduce noise, moving the main office to a central location, creating separation for Lars Hocktad auditorium and after-school activities, maintaining the Pine Street bus curb cut, merging the parent loop with the parking lot, and creating a dedicated car loop for Pre-K/K/First Grade were other consensus areas. Participants supported demolishing two specific areas of the school that would be replaced with new additions: the 1950s-60s courtyard shop area and a portion of the west wing (closest to Wadsworth). Demolishing those sections and building new is more cost-effective than remodeling and would address ADA and security issues, especially in the west wing where limited hallway sight lines pose supervision challenges for staff, Thomas-Hill said.

The goal is to tighten Central Grade’s layout to make it more energy efficient while still meeting capacity needs, Thomas-Hill said. Central Grade has 17 K-5 classrooms now but would ideally have 22 or so in the remodel – a number typical of other TCAPS elementary schools. There are some constraints in the redesign: Modern code requirements mean that grades below second – and any amenities those students would access, like art, music, gym, cafeteria, and library spaces – must all be located on the first floor. TCAPS is also trying to avoid putting classrooms on the third floor because of safety concerns in an emergency. The district will bring the 23,000-square-foot third floor up to code but is still trying to determine how it will be used – potentially for large conference rooms or other staff needs down the line.

Sustainability and green infrastructure – which TCAPS previously expressed interest in incorporating at Central Grade – are still important but also pose challenges, staff said. Geothermal is likely out because of land constraints, according to Thomas-Hill. She said the architectural team would explore options for “all the different systems” at the school – from going fully electric to adding air conditioning at Lars Hockstad – and provide cost estimates for trustees to consider. Other important decisions, such as whether to go down from two gyms to one gym and formally approving the demolition/addition plan, are expected to be made once design and cost options are refined in the coming months. Staff noted that Central Grade’s talented and gifted (TAG), preschool, and ISD programs would need to go somewhere other than Glenn Loomis during construction due to space constraints, with a discussion also likely to come on the best long-term home for TAG.  

Central High School
The second-largest project on the list at $20.8 million is renovating Central High School. That work will address ADA accessibility, a new main office/secure entry point, gym capacity, wresting areas, locker rooms, and one main point of entry that separates daily operations and after-school events. Trustees extensively discussed gym options for the school, including the possibility of demolishing both the original 1958 gym and the auxiliary 1968 gym and building new ADA-complaint facilities that would give Central High School four usable gyms instead of the current two. That would help address “inequity across town” with West High having four gyms, noted Trustee Erica Moon Mohr.

Demolishing and building new is almost the same cost as renovating, Thomas-Hill said, and could offer the district greater flexibility in designing to its specific needs. New construction would also likely have fewer long-term maintenance costs. The multi-year project would involve complex phasing to ensure some gym facilities remain available for students to use while new ones are constructed nearby, with the old eventually demolished. Thomas-Hill said that TCAPS would likely have another bond proposal before 2030 and could potentially wrap some later phases of Central High renovations – estimated at $15 million – into that proposal. Trustees expressed general support for exploring demolition/new build options but have not made any final decisions pending more design work and refined cost estimates.

Secondary Music Programs
Finally, trustees expressed support for increasing the minimum budget for upgrading the music facilities at TC West, TC Central, and East and West Middle Schools from $10 million to at least $14.5 million across the four secondary schools. Trustees also agreed West Middle is likely in the worst shape and should be addressed first. However, exactly what improvements will occur at each school has yet to be decided.

Trustees reviewed preliminary options, including either building new additions or renovating existing space to increase the music instruction, practice, and storage areas across the schools. Relocating choir rooms at some schools is also desired to move them closer to band and orchestra areas. However, choir rooms also have specific height and volume needs that can make them challenging to build, architects noted. West Middle is also constrained by code setback requirements that make it difficult to build an addition where space is available near the Health Center – though it could be “squeezed in” at a cost, architects said. West Middle Choir Teacher Emerick Dee advocated strongly for the addition, saying the department is “desperately in need” of additional space for its growing music program. Design options are expected to be generated for West Middle first, which could help refine the budget for both that school and the remaining three secondary schools.