Plans to transform the former Trapp Elementary into a transitional center for female veterans are progressing, and organizers are planning a day-long cleaning effort Friday.

Wanda Martin of Lady Veterans Connect said the group purchased the building earlier this year and has been doing some with at the property, but Friday will be a big push to accomplish a lot of work with volunteers.

“The school was in much better shape than people expected,” Martin said. “There’s a possibility, if we get a donor for a furnace, we could be open by May.”

The school is being re-designed as a transitional center for up to 35 female veterans. It would be a residential site and would connect the veterans with needed services and provide some life and work training opportunities. The group is already operating a similar but smaller facility in Lexington, she said.

Some of the tasks at the top of the list include cleaning, removing some of the brush and clearing wooded areas around the building, removing a walkway and removing the existing furnace. There will also be lighter-duty tasks including folding clothes, she said.

“We’ve been so pleased by the people who are coming forward to help us from Clark County,” Martin said. “It’s a major item coming to Clark County.”

Friday will also be an open house of sorts, she said, while work is ongoing.

“We’d just love everyone to come out and see it,” she said.

Work will begin at 10 a.m. at the school just off Kentucky 89 in Trapp.

Contact Fred Petke at fred.petke@winchestersun.com.