Hamilton Southeastern Schools will officially open the rebuilt Fishers Elementary School with a ribbon cutting and community open house at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 20, at the school, 11442 Lantern Road.

Tours of the building will be offered following a brief ceremony. The district says current and former FES families, alumni, neighbors and community members are all welcome.

The event closes a chapter that began more than five years ago, when the future of Fishers Elementary was one of the tougher questions on the school board’s plate. The school sits on roughly 8.5 acres just south of downtown Fishers — every other HSE elementary school has about 20 acres — and by 2021 the district was looking at an estimated $12 million in deferred maintenance at the building. Then-Superintendent Yvonne Stokes put the choice to the board plainly at an October 2021 work session: was it worth putting that kind of money into a landlocked building, and if not, where would a replacement go?

The board ultimately chose to stay put and build out. In March 2024, trustees unanimously approved a maximum price of $45 million for a renovation and addition designed to house about 700 students. Wurster Construction was hired as construction manager.

Getting to that number took some trimming. A first round of contractor bids came in roughly $10 million over projections, and the district adjusted the plans — keeping synthetic turf under the playground equipment but using natural grass for the larger open area around it, thinning the asphalt in the staff and visitor parking lot while keeping the heavier surface for buses, and shifting furniture costs to a later funding source.

Fishers Elementary last saw a major renovation in 1988, with a refresh in 2003. The work wrapped up on schedule — students are already in the building, having started the 2026-27 school year there this month. The Aug. 20 event is the community’s first look inside.

Thursday’s open house is free and no registration is required.