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As construction of the new Craig Middle School approaches the halfway mark, the public will have an opportunity to tour the facility from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday.

The middle school, which is scheduled to be open for the start of the 2009-2010 school year, will house Moffat County sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students.

Joel Sheridan, School District construction liaison, said tours of the project give the community a chance to see the construction's progress.

"We had a tour before Christmas when a couple of the areas were semi-finished," Sheridan said. "It allowed everyone to get an idea of what was going on, because I know a lot of people are curious about the project.

Sheridan said he would rather offer the public tours than describe the progress.

The project is on schedule.

"It's about 35 to 40 percent done," Sheridan said. "It's really coming along. When you factor in the infrastructure - the foundation and everything you can't see - it might be more than that."

Sheridan said work on the sixth-grade classroom is nearly complete.

"The stages are coming along nicely; the sixth grade pod and administrative portions are almost complete," Sheridan said. "Everything is done except for the furniture. We've set up a teacher's desk and some cabinets, but most of the other furniture has yet to be installed."

Work will be ongoing in the seventh- and eighth-grade pods, Sheridan said.

"The media center is pretty well done, except for the furniture," Sheridan said.

Sheridan said the tour on Saturday would be the public's last chance to get a full tour of the facility before an open house in August.

"The north end of the building will be demolished during the summer, and obviously, we don't want anyone around the building during demolition," he said. "Every time we do a walk-through, we get a really good response from the community."

The meeting point for the tour will be the south entrance, off Ninth Street.