The new education facility at Pike-Lincoln Technical Center in Eolia should be ready for students by April 17th.

Construction of the 28 thousand-square-foot facility has been completed and has come in just under the three-and-a-half-million-dollar budget.

The building replaces the one destroyed by fire in December 2011. While construction was under way, classes were held in the transportation building at the Eolia campus and in the former Clopton Middle School facility a few miles away.

The technical school serves more than 200 students from Pike and Lincoln counties and other parts of the region.

A formal grand opening is planned from 5 to 7 p.m. May 8th, with a ribbon cutting at 5:30 p.m.