A date and time has been set for the community open house at Pierce Lake Elementary School, when the closed down school will be officially unveiled as the new Early Childhood Center.

The open house is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 275 N. Freer Road.

During the Aug. 5 board meeting, Chelsea School District Superintendent Michael Kapolka informed the board of education and community of the date and time of the event. He said there will be a ribbon cutting as part of it. The community is invited.

“We’re really excited about it,” Kapolka said of the re-opening of the school.

He said they are putting the finishing touches on it. The school building has gone through some updating over the past few months in preparation of the re-opening.

Opened in 1997, Pierce Lake was originally a building for kindergarten through fifth-grade, and then over time it transitioned into a school for third and fourth graders. It closed in 2010, as the school district was wrestling with budget challenges paired with a period of declining student enrollment.

The Pierce Lake Early Childhood Center is now home to the district’s Preschool Program for children ages 3-5. According to its website, the preschool program uses the HighScope curriculum and helps children develop the skills necessary to succeed as they head into their K-12 careers.