Last Call for Cass Tech High School

[Zacha341]

Yeah, I know NOTHING about football, but even I could see from driving by that field is too small. The goal things are right up against the fence. It be like playing a game in a high walled sand box I'd imagine. The old Murray-Wright field is far larger. Others too. What were they thinking? Oh I know 'getting all the friends and family" paid and hooked up.That was the primary agenda...

Somebody also told me that they also measured it out and it's actually only 95 yards in length. I did hear that the sidelines were too close to the cyclone fencing and it wasn't safe if there was a play that ran towards the sidelines.

I think the football field was just another fat cash gift from Kwame to his buddy Bobby Ferguson to build.

[MissingDetroit]

Thank you for the pics Lowell. I can't begin to describe my feelings seeing the demolition, or the gifts I was given from CT and use to this day.

Had to register to come to the funeral.


--class of 69

[Danny]

Adieu Old Cass Tech Building, Thanks for 93 years of service.

[Zulu Warrior]

Such student memories have I ...but glad its going...the future students of Cass deserve a modern campus that meets the needs of a new century and a newly formed epoch...I want to see a vibrant campus with minds burning uphill....a continuum of excellence and incubator for greatness...Let there be room for the expansive mind of Cass to face the new winds of tomorrow with sails unfurled...unhampered by an old leviathan of gnarled agendas and clandestine motives...histories are yet to be written..days of splendor to be unveiled...galaxies to be explored...every brick torn down builds another castle of dreams...ambitious, succesful, hopeful dreams...where art, music, education, and science are rhymed with celestial motives...I see a new Cass Age dawning, within the sunset of her 20th century frame.....

Sonqoba Simunye...CT 85

[Detroitnerd]

I think the new Cass Tech will be demoed in 30 years.

[jerrytimes]

Boy, they sure love to tear down buildings in this town. Great development plan...

Not really. There are tons of vacant buildings standing.

[Zacha341]

And what seems like a 'million' abandoned and burnt out houses...........

Not really. There are tons of vacant buildings standing.

[tlharrington]

I attended Cass Tech for the 9th grade as a fine arts student. They were building the addition on the back side of the building while I was there in the 80s. I ended up going back to the local high school because of my grades. Both parents worked and my older sister was on Cass' swim team, so I had to care for my 2 younger siblings and keep up our house. I took classes there that I could never have hoped to find in the local high school. I miss the Detroit of my childhood...

[English]

Such student memories have I ...but glad its going...the future students of Cass deserve a modern campus that meets the needs of a new century and a newly formed epoch...I want to see a vibrant campus with minds burning uphill....a continuum of excellence and incubator for greatness...Let there be room for the expansive mind of Cass to face the new winds of tomorrow with sails unfurled...unhampered by an old leviathan of gnarled agendas and clandestine motives...histories are yet to be written..days of splendor to be unveiled...galaxies to be explored...every brick torn down builds another castle of dreams...ambitious, succesful, hopeful dreams...where art, music, education, and science are rhymed with celestial motives...I see a new Cass Age dawning, within the sunset of her 20th century frame.....

Sonqoba Simunye...CT 85

My favorite aunt was your classmate.

[FlyByDon]

8/27/2011

[stingbeelee]

Speaking of Cass Tech and football; Richard "Dick" Cole passed away last week; he, more than others, started the winning tradition at Cass, before he came, they were the laughingstock of the PSL. He coached many great athletes while at Cass, and helped too many kids to mention.

[gnome]

Oops, wrong room. Sorry.

[EZZ]

What's going to be there now, a parking lot?

[riviera]

Here are a few from during the demolition that I had lying around.

[riviera]

[riviera]

[Hermod]

Cass Tech is a great illustration of the expression, "when you point the finger at someone, four fingers are pointing back at you."

Cass Tech has thousands and thousands of living graduates. They saw this go onto DPS's bond issue, they saw the new building rising [[and must have known the old one was going to become a nonperforming asset on DPS's books), they became aware of the demolition plans, and not one - not even ones who live in Hollywood - came up with a single, concrete plan, much less one with funding. Instead, what we got was cries about how no one has any vision. It's ironic, it's sad, and it led to a predictable result.

This isn't about vision [[and almost never is when things get torn down). It's always about what you get for your money in keeping a building like this. The architecture was old [[but fairly drab and forgettable, even for its era). And like most schools of its era, the building was dark, depressing, inflexible, and energy inefficient. Even if New Cass Tech is expensive, buggy and architecturally bland, it may well have been that someone crunched the numbers and figured out that even if you tore it down and rebuilt it again in 30 years, it would be cheaper than locking into 50-60 more years with the old one. Who knows what major maintenance DPS deferred - and deferred - and deferred. There may have been some educational consideratons in changing classroom layouts, etc., but I'd bet the real reason why old Cass Tech was replaced was the cost of running it [[or bringing it up to modern standards). And many of those costs would have been continued in a private redevelopment.

I just came back from a visit to my college alma mater [[class of 1961). All of the buildings which were there when i was a student are still standing and in use [[with the exception of a couple of faculty quarters torn down to make room for expansion of the dorms).

I saw my old dorm rooms [[built in 1850), the old Chemistry building [[1908), the English/history/math building [[1918), the engineering building [[1923), and the physics building [[1952). While the buildings have been expanded and modernized, they are still in use after all these years. How come they haven't become outmoded?

[Király]

Fans of this thread might appreciate this pair of links hosted by detroiturbex.com

Full plan of the school, floor by floor, with interior photos taken between closure and demolition: http://detroiturbex.com/content/scho...ure/index.html

Even more interesting: Images of the old Cass in years past, photoshopped over shots of the school during its closure. http://detroiturbex.com/content/scho...now/index.html

Sample:





This one is my fave:

[CassTechGrad]

I found an image from the Detroiturbex Cass Tech site of the 5^th floor hallway and imposed a picture from my 1966 yearbook of the exact same location. I’m the guy sitting in the front with the black pants and gray sweater. I attended from 1963 to 1966, a fantastic time to be young.

[destpolo]

I was in The Class of 1986. I've lived in Florida since my early 20's. I don't recognize the city anymore. It breaks my heart.