You know you're getting ready to move in when you order the furniture.

That goes for the new Northampton Area Middle School, which apparently is on track to be ready next fall.

Mother Nature seems to be cooperating with the Northampton Area Middle School and Secondary Campus Renovation Project, which is the talk of the town according to one member of the Northampton Area School Board.

"It's kind of an exciting time," Jay Clough, principal at KCBA, middle school architecture firm, said in his construction report at the Dec. 15 school board meeting.

So far, the $80.7-million project has been getting a break in the weather for the fall-winter 2014-15 construction season.

"We need another month of good weather. We got a break this year. We need more good weather," said Clough.

"The finishing trades are coming in. Most importantly, the roofing is going on," Clough said.

Painting, ceiling finishing and preparation for cabinetry was under way on the classroom wing, which is under roof, according to Clough. Ceramic tile was being put in place in the bathrooms and beams were installed over the swimming pool, Clough said.

"We're very pleased," Clough said of the facility which is to accommodate 1,500 students in grades six through eight. Sixth-grade students now attend elementary schools in the district.

The new 273,000-square-foot middle school will have a cafeteria, library gymnasium to seat 1,500, fitness room and swimming pool.

Board member Jean Rundle said that many "elderly folks" have been noticing the middle school construction project and have been asking her questions about it.

"The senior citizens seem very, very happy their grandchildren will be going here," Rundle said.

"And they'll [senior citizens and other district residents] be entitled to go in there and use a lot of the facilities," Clough said, adding that the interior design, decor and displays will honor the NASD Konkrete Kid cement-manufacturing tradition.

The four-acre project on the campus along Laubach Avenue in the Borough of Northampton includes a new field house, new parking lot, renovated Al Erdosy Stadium with new concession stand, lights, athletic field and track, a new athletic field and bus drop-off parking area at the site of the old middle school, and improved campus storm water system and roads.

The middle school now in use is to be demolished in summer 2016 to make way for the athletic field and bus drop-off and parking area.

And about that furniture?

School board members voted unanimously 9-0 at the Dec. 15 meeting to approve $909,454.69 for the purchase and installation of furniture, including classroom desks, chairs, cabinets and other equipment from Corporate Environments, Bethlehem. The amount is included in the project's cost.

According to its website, Corporate Environments provides interior furnishings and facility management services, representing more than 100 manufacturers, for corporate, education, health care and government clients.