"The grassy area north of Cooley Lake Road will not be available for recreational activities, including dog walking and similar uses, for the duration of this project." That line comes from a Waterford Township notice posted July 14, 2026, and it announced the start of work on the former Oakland Community College Highland Lakes campus. The notice also restricted campus access from Cooley Lake Road and said the restrictions would last until early 2028.
The new Waterford Community Center is being made from a working college campus. The crews take buildings down one at a time, in a set order, and that order controls what you can use at the site, which entrance you take, and when the last piece is done. The building itself is due to open about eight months before the final site work is finished.
A 51-Acre Purchase That Waited on a Ballot
The site is the southern 51 acres of the Highland Lakes campus at 7350 Cooley Lake Road. Oakland Community College announced that the township had agreed to buy it for $2.8 million. The deal depended on voters passing a bond. In November 2024, voters approved a 21-year bond of $36,410,000 for the project. WXYZ's groundbreaking coverage credited part of the campaign's support to a group called the Four Towns Citizens Action Team.
The township held the groundbreaking on Wednesday, August 26, 2026. Parks and Recreation board materials show that construction had actually started at the end of July, so the ceremony came about a month after the work began. That same WXYZ report said the Highland Lakes campus itself is expected to close completely in fall 2027. Levinson Hall, the one campus building still taking visitors, is not scheduled to come down until after that.
The Order Things Come Down
The township's July 2026 project dashboard and its board minutes since then lay out the sequence.
- Mid-July 2026: mobilization and site preparation. Crews moved in, and the Student Center's 18-month construction window opened.
- By September 10, 2026: the Physical Education Building is demolished. Construction fencing and a gate were fully installed. The gate is locked on evenings and weekends when crews are not working.
- October 2026: High Oaks Hall is coming down. As of the October 13 Parks and Recreation Board agenda, demolition was underway to make room for eight pickleball courts.
- By December 31, 2027: the Student Center renovation and addition reaches substantial completion. That building becomes the new Community Center.
- After October 2027: Levinson Hall is demolished. It comes down last, after the college's expected closing.
- October 2027 through September 2028: landscaping and final site work. Commissioning and closeout run from January to October 2028.
Levinson Hall sits at the end of the list because it is still in use. Students, faculty and visitors going to Levinson Hall are now routed in from Marylestone Street. Everyone else uses the Hospital Road entrance. The township is building around a college that is still holding classes, and that is why the dates overlap the way they do.
What Replaces What
Every building being removed has a specific replacement in the plans. The schematic design was presented in Township Board minutes from September 22, 2025, with Neumann/Smith Architects as architect. Frank Rewold & Sons is the construction manager.
| Campus building | Status as of mid-October 2026 | What takes its place |
|---|---|---|
| Physical Education Building | Demolished | Gymnasium with an elevated walking track, plus a new parking lot |
| High Oaks Hall | Being demolished | Eight pickleball courts |
| Student Center | Under renovation with additions | The 56,628-square-foot Community Center |
| Levinson Hall | Still in use, demolition after October 2027 | Final landscaping and site work |
Inside the reused Student Center, the plan has a gym with a three-lane elevated running and walking track, a high-school-size basketball court with two cross courts, four indoor pickleball courts, a volleyball court and bleachers for 250 people. Around the gym are two exercise rooms, two cardio and fitness areas, four multipurpose rooms, a game room, a reservable conference room, a demonstration kitchen and a room set aside for medical device rentals. The locker rooms include a family option.
The kitchen is the part of the building that serves the most people. The new commercial kitchen is planned to make 200 Meals on Wheels meals a day, and the bistro seats about 140 people for congregate meals. That bistro doubles as a community events room seating about 215. The architects told the board they had studied how Meals on Wheels runs in the township's current buildings before they drew the kitchen.
Outside, the existing softball field stays. The site plan adds a reconfigured amphitheater, tennis and basketball courts, a maintenance and storage building with public restrooms, 201 parking spaces near the building, and space saved for a future splash pad and playground. The plan does not include a pool.
The Routine That Changes Before Anything Opens
For neighbors who used the campus lawns, the trade-off comes in a particular order. The grassy area north of Cooley Lake Road closed to dog walking this summer and stays closed until early 2028. The plan that replaces it includes a dog park with two fenced areas, one for small dogs and one for large dogs. The township has not given a separate opening date for the dog park, and the final landscaping and site work runs through September 2028.
Township recreation has already moved once. The old Waterford Recreation Center, the C.A.I. Building at 5640 Williams Lake Road, closed at the end of 2025. Its programs went to the Leggett Campus and other township locations. The township describes the Leggett Campus at 3621 Pontiac Lake Road, which also houses the Waterford Senior Center, as a "temporary hub for programs, services, and staff." All operations are expected to move to the new building when it opens. Under the funding rules, any money from selling the old Recreation Center must go to a comparable recreation facility, which in this case means the new center.
If you drive Cooley Lake Road, the gate and fencing will be part of the view for more than a year. The township's notice puts the access restriction through early 2028, while landscaping and final site work are scheduled into September 2028. The gate is locked on evenings and weekends when crews are off.
Four Numbers That Measure Different Things
The project has four dollar figures attached to it, and each one measures something different:
- $2.8 million is what the township agreed to pay Oakland Community College for the 51 acres.
- $36.41 million is the 21-year bond voters approved in November 2024.
- $33.31 million is the project budget in the township's July 2026 dashboard. It covers $27.195 million for construction, $2.903 million for professional services, $675,000 for furniture, fixtures and equipment, and $2.537 million in contingency.
- $27,098,277 is the trade contract amount, including Frank Rewold & Sons' fee, recommended to the board in late July 2026. It includes $7,932,782 in contracts the board had already awarded on June 22, 2026.
The recommended contract amount came in about $97,000 under the $27.195 million construction line in the budget. The dashboard notes that more than 200 bids were received. The same recommendation proposed a $592,975 carpentry contract for Sterling Contracting. Because Frank Rewold & Sons is signatory to specific trade unions, the township holds that carpentry contract and the earlier demolition contract directly, and Frank Rewold & Sons manages them.
The October board agenda carried a Community Center update, and the next Parks and Recreation Board meeting is Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at 6 p.m. in Room 105 of the Leggett Campus. The township posts photos and progress updates on its Community Center project page.
If you live near Cooley Lake Road and want to know how a project on this schedule affects your corner of Waterford, I'm glad to walk through it with you. I started on the construction side, and a staged demolition timeline like this one is something I read closely. Let's connect with Robert Torrey.
