"Among them:

• The Lewis Cass Technical High School, built in 1922 and among Michigan's first publicly funded vocational schools.
• The vacant Miller School, built in 1921 and which later served as the city's African-American high school because of discriminatory practices of the time.
• The M. M. Rose School, built in 1897 and one of the oldest standing schools in Detroit.

The state Historic Review Board approved 88 of the schools for the national register and will submit the nomination to the federal government as soon as this week. Federal officials are expected to finalize the designation this summer.

The designation comes as nearly 150 Detroit Public Schools have closed since 2003, the result of thousands of students leaving the district each year. Some of the nominated schools are ones that are to close this year, such as Cooley High, built in 1927, and Hanstein Elementary, built in 1918.

Janese Chapman, a city planner who is part of the effort, hopes the designation will spark greater appreciation of the buildings and their potential uses. Instead of demolishing the community anchors, Chapman hopes the conversation will turn to: "How can we repurpose them?"
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100...HOOLS/7050329/

Might there be future hope for Cass, Cooley, and other significant buildings on the hit list?