This aerial drone view of the new Pacific Middle School shows the tall crane ready to lift the last steel beam up for iron workers to secure in place above the main entrance.
Skanska Stages Topping Out Ceremony
Our new Pacific Middle School achieved a big milestone.
Ironworkers completed the structural steel that will support the new school. To celebrate, the contractor held a traditional topping-out ceremony with crew members, architects and Highline's capital planning staff on March 27.
Crew members signed one of the final beams before a crane lifted it into place above the main entrance.
- Photos: Facebook post, April 13, 2026
- Video: Instagram Reel, April 13, 2026
Students also had a hand in this moment—signing a beam earlier in the month that is now part of their future school.
- Photos: Facebook post, March 19, 2026
Project Update: April 2026
With the steel structure complete, construction crews are now enclosing the exterior and beginning work on the interior.
- Exterior framing, sheathing, and roofing are about two-thirds complete. This helps seal the building from the weather – called getting the structure “dried in.”
- Brick veneer masonry is being installed on the north side of the building.
- Inside, crews are framing and installing the start of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.
Crews finished drilling 147 geothermal wells that extend 350 feet deep under the west end of the site. The geothermal wells will connect to the HVAC system for heating and cooling.
Underground utilities are being installed.
Upcoming Work
Crews will begin installing interior insulation and drywall, once the building is sealed from the weather.
Bottom Line
This 2022 bond-funded project continues to be on budget and on schedule to open fall 2027.
More Photos
An ironworker is poised on the steel structure above the main entrance of the new school, waiting to receive the final steel beam from the crane to secure it in place. The white beam is being signed by construction team members. As part of the topping-out ceremony tradition, the beam sports a flag on one end and a small evergreen tree on the other.
This aerial view of the new school construction project shows yellow sheathing covering the west end of the new building. This view is looking southeast, with Mt. Rainier in background on the right. The front of the new school facility faces east and away from the viewer in this photo, toward 24th Avenue South in the distance.
Close-up view of the final, signed beam in place, with a small evergreen tree, a U.S. flag, and a "Seattle Iron Workers Local #86" union banner still flying from the beam at top of the structural steel skeleton of new school.
A view (looking southwest) of concrete being poured on the upper floors of the new Pacific Middle School building. The three-story classroom wing is on the left, running along the south side of the site. The new main entrance faces the viewer. The school will face east, toward 24th Avenue South.
These two April 2026 photos show the yellow sheathing going up on the exterior of the new Pacific Middle School to seal the building from the weather. On the left is a view of the south side of the classroom wing. On the right is a view of the southeast corner of the school as the yellow sheathing wraps around the front of the school building.