Last Call for Cass Tech High School
The famous Cass Tech High School building, where many of Detroit's luminaries received their education, is in its final days. Let's circle the site of "The Harvard of the Detroit Public Schools" for a final good-bye.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68389.jpg
Headed for the landfill, a demolition dump truck carts off a portion of the famed structure.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68394.jpg
Demolition, which has proceeded from the Grand River rear side is nearing completion.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68395.jpg
Viewed from across the I-375, the new Cass Tech can now be seen in the background.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68403.jpg
The New Cass Tech, which stands immediately north of the old site, is in a troubled but rebounding area just north of the downtown Detroit district.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68396.jpg
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68398.jpg
The view from the empty parking lot across 2nd Avenue -- a lot that was packed in the below 2001 view from Woodward Avenue.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...h/P0010001.jpg
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68399.jpg
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68406.jpg
Gone is its iconic carved limestone portal.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/65423.jpg
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/65424.jpg
Construction of the new Cass Tech High School in 2003 set in motion the forces that eventually led to the demolition of the old school.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/06647.jpg
Once the new school was completed the old school was sealed and intact [as seen in this pieced-together panorama from Jan. 22, 2006] with opportunities to translate its renowned history and attributes into new uses. Proposals to convert it into condominiums and apartments were floated but nothing substantial ever emerged. Click Here for a larger viewer or click here for a very large view.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/19441.jpg
Lack of security lead to the property to be vandalized and looted. By 2009 the property was a blighted eyesore, leading to calls for its demolition.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68411.jpg
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68419.jpg
A misting cannon waters the remains of old Cass Tech High School overlooked by the new Cass Tech.
http://detroityes.com/webisodes/2011...tech/68416.jpg
Pictures? Memories? Let 'em rip and share them here.