Why is the front section of King High School being demolished?

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 09:24 AM

Noticed it this morning.

**Bham1982** · July-11-11, 09:27 AM

They're demolishing King and building a new one.

The school was a whole 30 years old. No clue why it needed to be replaced at such a young age.

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 09:29 AM

??? Anybody know why they decided the building is so bad it needs to be torn down?

**BrushStart** · July-11-11, 09:35 AM

Originally Posted by lafayette

??? Anybody know why they decided the building is so bad it needs to be torn down?

Adamo Group was hungry for $$$.

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 09:43 AM

Sorry, but I'm not up to date on this issue as you can see. Who's Adamo?

**Wesley Mouch** · July-11-11, 09:55 AM

Adamo's a demolition company.

Why does anyone thing a new building has any impact on education? I remember all this discussion about 'wiring schools for the internet'. Of course now its all wi-fi. So let's build schools for wi-if.

Let's all worship at the altar of new.

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 10:09 AM

There are a zillion DPS school buildings that have to be in worse shape than MLK High School. So why is this one being rebuilt instead?

**Neilr** · July-11-11, 10:19 AM

IIRC, the original building had unresolvable design/construction problems with the foundation. The school was built over the creek bed of Parent's Creek aka Bloody Run, perhaps that had something to do with the problem.

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=21846

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 10:25 AM

Hmmm. I wonder if they have a new way of construction that would mitigate any problems caused by building on a Parent's Creek site. Otherwise, the new building will have problems, too.

**iheartthed** · July-11-11, 10:33 AM

Originally Posted by Neilr

IIRC, the original building had unresolvable design/construction problems with the foundation. The school was built over the creek bed of Parent's Creek aka Bloody Run, perhaps that had something to do with the problem.

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=21846

If only Detroit's administrations could run a city as well as they can sell reasons for needing to waste taxpayer money......

**Wesley Mouch** · July-11-11, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by Neilr

IIRC, the original building had unresolvable design/construction problems with the foundation. The school was built over the creek bed of Parent's Creek aka Bloody Run, perhaps that had something to do with the problem.

http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=21846

So the schools districts incompetence extends back 30 years. No surprise there.

Apparently they preferred happy contractor friends over quality even back then.

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 11:22 AM

I found these details of the construction project although, understandably, they don't include an explanation why it was decided this particular school deserved reconstruction more than other schools:

http://dpsschoolconstruction.org/sto...%20111%202.pdf

**Genesyxx** · July-11-11, 12:03 PM

One would hope there's no delay in new construction. Cass waited for years for their new building to be open before they tore down the old one.

**bailey** · July-11-11, 12:52 PM

Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch

So the schools districts incompetence extends back 30 years. No surprise there.

Apparently they preferred happy contractor friends over quality even back then.

Was it incompetence or just crappy standards and stupid ideas? I mean look at the institutional builds from the 70s around the area.....its just godawful stuff. Combine crappy builds with [[likely) even crappier maintenance over the years and you get a building that is at the end of its useful life after 30 years.

**Detroitnerd** · July-11-11, 01:08 PM

I think the main thing is that mortgages and bonds are the main product of all this. And the building should only last through its financing cycle so everybody can make more money on the demolition, rehab and reconstruction ... built to last through another financing cycle only.

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 01:27 PM

DPS says it's being paid for with Obama economic stimulus funds:

http://dpsschoolconstruction.org/sto...%20111%202.pdf

DetroitPole · July-11-11, 01:28 PM

I didn't go to school long ago by any means.
However, we didn't have wi-fi. We didn't have internet. I went to a working-class Catholic school, so the building was not great. We didn't have a gym or a cafeteria. We didn't have laptops or I-pads.
I got a great education and have a good job. My parents and teachers cared about me and made me value education. Go figure. Nothing fucking magical about it.

**Detroitnerd** · July-11-11, 01:31 PM

Yeah, DP. Be prepared to get a good talking-to from some of technology's more outspoken advocates, but you don't need lots of bells and whistles to teach children properly.

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 01:32 PM

I agree all, but back to the original premise - if you're going to tear down a DPS school and rebuild it, how did MLK High School get selected? That's all I was curious about. Lots of other crappy buildings in the district.

**Detroitnerd** · July-11-11, 01:34 PM

Who knows? That's the wonderful thing about emergency managers. They are accountable to nobody, right? Sweet! Let's make lots of money!

**lafayette** · July-11-11, 01:42 PM

You're right, DetroitNerd. Sad.

**Gistok** · July-11-11, 01:50 PM

If memory serves me correct about 10% of Finney HS was built in the 1920s [[as an elementary school), 60% was built in the 1960s, and 30% was built in the 1970s.

And it wasn't built on any river or creek.... just during the crappy construction era, I guess....

It too is being [[or already is) demolished.

**bailey** · July-11-11, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

If memory serves me correct about 10% of Finney HS was built in the 1920s [[as an elementary school), 60% was built in the 1960s, and 30% was built in the 1970s.

And it wasn't built on any river or creek.... just during the crappy construction era, I guess....

It too is being [[or already is) demolished.

It's gone and walls are going up on the rebuild .

Look regardless of the build... it needs to be maintained. small problems become big...big problems become unfix-able. Which is better? tearing down portions of a building to slap on a new addition or just blowing the whole thing out? Finney looked like a prison. MLK wasnt much better. The new schools look like they will be outstanding. [[Cass Tech should never have come down... but that is a different debate.)

I went to MSU... it went through a building boom in the 1970s. many of the buildings from that era are drab cinder block boxes with crappy single pane windows and terrible layouts. look at the schools out in Macomb county that are from the late 70s early 80s. Dull lifeless carbon copies of each other. Or closer to east side, Compare GP South with GP North. North is a dreadful building that only after several face lifts now at least remotely resembles a school instead of a prison complex. GP South suffers a terrible 1970s library and classroom addition, but at least that was around the back. Institutional builds in the 1970s were by and large, just atrocious.

**Hypestyles** · July-11-11, 02:34 PM

hmm... will the new building be disabled-friendly?
does the athletic field get renovated?
..will the land left from the demolishing be re-used for green industry, teaching students?

**Gistok** · July-11-11, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by bailey

It's gone and walls are going up on the rebuild .

Look regardless of the build... it needs to be maintained. small problems become big...big problems become unfix-able. Which is better? tearing down portions of a building to slap on a new addition or just blowing the whole thing out? Finney looked like a prison. MLK wasnt much better. The new schools look like they will be outstanding. [[Cass Tech should never have come down... but that is a different debate.)

I went to MSU... it went through a building boom in the 1970s. many of the buildings from that era are drab cinder block boxes with crappy single pane windows and terrible layouts. look at the schools out in Macomb county that are from the late 70s early 80s. Dull lifeless carbon copies of each other. Or closer to east side, Compare GP South with GP North. North is a dreadful building that only after several face lifts now at least remotely resembles a school instead of a prison complex. GP South suffers a terrible 1970s library and classroom addition, but at least that was around the back. Institutional builds in the 1970s were by and large, just atrocious.

Thanks for the info Bailey....

The recent additions of GPS are in stark contrast to the additions you mention.... they complement the original.

For ugly buildings... few are as bad as WSU's 1950s era G. Flint Purdy Library.... butt ugly!! And so is the recent addition to Old Main.... what were they thinking???