Detroit schools to revive Cooley site as sports complex

**Airforceguy** · May-05-25, 07:50 AM

They include a $25 million project to redevelop the long-shuttered Cooley High School into a sports facility for the district and community.
In a separate project, the district plans to construct a new school building at the Coleman A. Young International Airport, commonly referred to as City Airport, to bring the Davis Aerospace Technical High School back to its campus. Some 800 people were expected to attend the DPSCD Foundation’s Tyrone E. Winfrey Hall of Fame Alumni Gala at Cass Technical High School on Saturday night, where the projects were shared in a video presentation to attendees, a media representative told Crain's. Davis Aerospace Technical High School, which launched in 1986 to teach Detroit students in grades 9-12 the fundamentals of flight and aircraft systems, moved to Golightly Education Center in 2013 from City Airport following Detroit’s bankruptcy.

The school's return to City Airport will expand the aviation and engineering curriculum to include hands-on training and double the school’s current enrollment to about 200 students, the district said. The project will be funded by a $7 million state earmark made to the project last year and is expected to be completed in 2027, the district said.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/educat...k-city-airport

**canuck** · May-05-25, 08:37 AM

Beautiful building and grounds. It’s nice to see it come back to life…

**Satiricalivory** · May-05-25, 12:45 PM

Sports facility? What are they gonna do with all the classrooms?

After the district played games and let it rot since 2012.

**Zacha341** · May-05-25, 06:41 PM

Not sure what the article says [paywall in place] but Davis Tech HS relocated to the Golightly Career and Technical Center [a career tech school] on the east side, off E. Jefferson, not the Golightly Education Center [an elementary school] near the medical center.

Originally Posted by Airforceguy

....Davis Aerospace Technical High School, which launched in 1986 to teach Detroit students in grades 9-12 the fundamentals of flight and aircraft systems, moved to Golightly Education Center in 2013 from City Airport following Detroit’s bankruptcy.

https://www.crainsdetroit.com/educat...k-city-airport

**Zacha341** · May-05-25, 06:43 PM

I've never been inside the Cooley building. Wonder if they have a large or medium sized existing gym. Maybe knock out non-weight bearing walls for more space? Any Cooley Alumni here??

Originally Posted by Satiricalivory

Sports facility? What are they gonna do with all the classrooms?

**Zacha341** · May-05-25, 06:55 PM

A non profit organization proposed to buy/ redevelop Cooley a few years back...

https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/non...pportunity-hub

**stasu1213** · May-06-25, 06:25 AM

I remember reading a report that the former Kettering High School building there on the Eastside was to be repurposed as some type of agricultural plant. The building ended being razed a few months back. You have to take the "I will believe it when I see it" approach when you hear of plans on repurposing former school buildings into something else

**Jimaz** · May-06-25, 06:44 AM

There are a dozen older threads about Cooley.

**Zacha341** · May-06-25, 10:28 AM

Yep. I've worked in that area and the large metal letter K for Kettering stood on the lot of the former school for some time only to now be gone [stolen?]

Originally Posted by stasu1213

...I remember reading a report that the former Kettering High School building there on the Eastside was to be repurposed as some type of agricultural plant. The building ended being razed a few months back.

**stasu1213** · May-06-25, 02:31 PM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

Yep. I've worked in that area and the large metal letter K for Kettering stood on the lot of the former school for some time only to now be gone [stolen?]

Or so the report says

**Gistok** · May-06-25, 04:26 PM

Hmmm... it looks like only part of the school is being saved....

The good news is that Detroit Public Schools Community District has finally announced a plan for the legendary Thomas M. Cooley High School, which has sat rotting since its closure in 2010. It will be turned into an athletic complex for the district and the community.

The bad news is that only a portion of the architecturally stunning building will apparently be saved, with a spokeswoman telling Crain's Detroit Business that "the plan is to preserve a part of the building for the locker room, a museum for the alumni and meeting location."

**Cincinnati_Kid** · May-07-25, 04:10 AM

Originally Posted by Gistok

Hmmm... it looks like only part of the school is being saved....

The good news is that Detroit Public Schools Community District has finally announced a plan for the legendary Thomas M. Cooley High School, which has sat rotting since its closure in 2010. It will be turned into an athletic complex for the district and the community.

The bad news is that only a portion of the architecturally stunning building will apparently be saved, with a spokeswoman telling Crain's Detroit Business that "the plan is to preserve a part of the building for the locker room, a museum for the alumni and meeting location."

I've always considered Cooley the most architecturally beautiful high school in Detroit. It reminded me of a castle. No other high school came close. It's a shame the city let it fall into despair. Who designed it?

**Zacha341** · May-07-25, 05:00 AM

^ A favorite indeed. The former Mumford was nice too with its blue coloring and art deco styling.

**stasu1213** · May-07-25, 06:26 AM

I always wondered if there were developers or anyone who had wanted to purchase these buildings such as Cooley but the city had made it difficult for anyone to purchase these former schools causing these buildings to further deteriorate as the years passed by. This gives the city a reason to raze these historic structures.

**Detroit Stylin** · May-07-25, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

Yep. I've worked in that area and the large metal letter K for Kettering stood on the lot of the former school for some time only to now be gone [stolen?]

It still there, as of the last time i relatively recently drove by there...

**Zacha341** · May-07-25, 09:16 AM

^ That's great news!

**Cincinnati_Kid** · May-07-25, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

^ A favorite indeed. The former Mumford was nice too with its blue coloring and art deco styling.

True, but not as aesthetically pleasing as Cooley was with it's medieval architeture.

**Zacha341** · May-07-25, 09:57 AM

^ Yes! The castle look of Cooley is awesome.

**canuck** · May-07-25, 11:41 AM

Originally Posted by Zacha341

^ Yes! The castle look of Cooley is awesome.

Yes, even the hexagonal chimney looks amazing, better than anything slapped up nowadays, for sure.

It's probably going to be demolished since the mechanical room won’t need it, and nobody wants to care for an unused feature of that size. Oh well…

**EASTSIDER BALDUCK** · May-07-25, 12:04 PM

Kool skool fer ser.

Shame it's coming down.

**stasu1213** · May-07-25, 02:20 PM

The exterior bricks and other parts could be saved to make another structure somewhere else

**ABetterDetroit** · May-07-25, 06:29 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

I always wondered if there were developers or anyone who had wanted to purchase these buildings such as Cooley but the city had made it difficult for anyone to purchase these former schools causing these buildings to further deteriorate as the years passed by. This gives the city a reason to raze these historic structures.

Good God.

How much rotting into the ground wasteland do you actually need to see before your eyes until you realize that exactly ZERO “developers” want 90% of it and it’s not some grand conspiracy?

Next, let’s get this out of the way quicker. NO, Toyota or any other corporation in the world you can possibly dream up would have had security escort an employee/consultant all the way to the curb if anyone even uttered moving into Cooley High School in Detroit figuring they had lost their freaking marbles.

**stasu1213** · May-07-25, 08:45 PM

Originally Posted by ABetterDetroit

Good God.

How much rotting into the ground wasteland do you actually need to see before your eyes until you realize that exactly ZERO “developers” want 90% of it and it’s not some grand conspiracy?

Next, let’s get this out of the way quicker. NO, Toyota or any other corporation in the world you can possibly dream up would have had security escort an employee/consultant all the way to the curb if anyone even uttered moving into Cooley High School in Detroit figuring they had lost their freaking marbles.

Why are these schools just sit and rot in the first place. Weren't there plans for the former Cooley building years ago? There had been plans to repurposed a few of these former school buildings. For some reason those plans fell through

**ABetterDetroit** · May-07-25, 10:13 PM

Originally Posted by stasu1213

Why are these schools just sit and rot in the first place. Weren't there plans for the former Cooley building years ago? There had been plans to repurposed a few of these former school buildings. For some reason those plans fell through

Because schools systems are designed to educate youth. Not to be in the business of ‘repurposing’ real estate. They don’t hire people that are real estate developers, research markets for underused buildings, none of that. Believe it or not the State of Michigan has rules on what they can spend their tax based budgets on and it is supposed to fall in line with teaching kids. Not real estate ventures. Paying a salary to a ‘toilet flusher’ in an empty building would have severe affects on future budgets because it would demonstrate they left their core mission and were wasteful and probably corrupt with the budget.

**Cincinnati_Kid** · May-08-25, 07:19 AM

Originally Posted by ABetterDetroit

Because schools systems are designed to educate youth. Not to be in the business of ‘repurposing’ real estate. They don’t hire people that are real estate developers, research markets for underused buildings, none of that. Believe it or not the State of Michigan has rules on what they can spend their tax based budgets on and it is supposed to fall in line with teaching kids. Not real estate ventures. Paying a salary to a ‘toilet flusher’ in an empty building would have severe affects on future budgets because it would demonstrate they left their core mission and were wasteful and probably corrupt with the budget.

Very good points. Bravo..