Cass Tech updates

[Jared9903]

I heard that there are cement barricades around it and a bulldozer is out back from BuildingsOfDetroit
Any other news?
Pictures?

[detroitbob66]

I heard that there are cement barricades around it and a bulldozer is out back from BuildingsOfDetroit
Any other news?
Pictures?

This is true, should start any minute now!

[buildingsofdetroit]

Demo has started. Huge hole in cafeteria.

[Jared9903]

Demo has started. Huge hole in cafeteria.

[marcwigle]

How old is that section? It looks almost new...

[Jared9903]

How old is that section? It looks almost new...

It was completed in 1985, so it only last 20 years, as the school abandoned in 2005.

[Zacha341]

Found this public press release online:

http://detroitk12.org/news/article/2129/
Detroit Public Schools News Article

Detroit Public Schools Foundation launches first commemorative brick program to benefit Cass Tech High School

Friday, December 10, 2010

Contact: Regina Fortushniak 313.873.3414

Detroit Public Schools Foundation

With first annual appeal underway, Detroit Public Schools Foundation now invites Cass Tech alumni and friends to honor school’s legacy with a commemorative brick

Detroit [[December 10, 2010) - Commemorative bricks honoring the legacy of Cass Technical High School are now available for purchase through the Detroit Public Schools Foundation. Proceeds benefit Cass Tech and the Foundation.

“We're really excited to be unveiling our brick program for Cass Tech, as the first in a series of commemorative brick opportunities. This provides alumni, friends and family with an opportunity to commemorate Cass Tech while contributing to school programs,” said Chacona W. Johnson, President and CEO Detroit Public Schools Foundation.

Individuals interested in purchasing a commemorative brick have 3 different options to choose from; a bronze plated brick, a silver plated brick with a walnut base that can be personalized with a name and graduation year or a gold plated brick in an attractive encasement on a cherry acrylic base that can also be personalized.

“We're offering a variety of options to the community to purchase a brick at any level and support the current students of Cass Tech,” said Johnson.

Individuals interested in purchasing bricks can go online to the Foundation website at www.detroitpsfoundation.org, e-mail at info@detroitpsfoundation.org or contact by phone at 313-873-3348.

About the Detroit Public Schools Foundation
The Detroit Public Schools Foundation is a tax-exempt 501[[c)[[3) organization dedicated to supporting Detroit students. Our mission is to raise, manage and steward funds and other resources to support value-added programs and activities for the benefit of the Detroit Public Schools and its students. Please join us in supporting Detroit’s children and investing in their future. Your contribution to the Foundation will help build quality programs that will enrich the educational experience of DPS students and promote student achievement. For more information on giving options, visit us online at www.detroitpsfoundation.org. Find the Foundation Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Detroi...31500533542459

[Pcm]

Demo has started. Huge hole in cafeteria.

According to this Freep article, that huge hole is not a result of demolition.

http://www.freep.com/article/2010121...-old-Cass-Tech

[DetroitZack]

^That doesn't suprise me. Idk why people thought that was the beginning of demolition anyways, why would they start there? lol You could tell crap was being thrown out the hole.

[Jared9903]

^That doesn't suprise me. Idk why people thought that was the beginning of demolition anyways, why would they start there? lol You could tell crap was being thrown out the hole.

I dont think vandals would make it so clean cut. And security camera? for three months? seems like a waste of money [[which DPS is great at doing, but still)

[royce]

I saw a big whole in the building along the Grand River side. Demolition is well on its way.

[DetroitDad]

My company is spending on new white boards, chalk boards, and cork boards at office suppliers.... for what?.... do you know how much those are!? Why didn't they auction that stuff off?

That could have helped DPS.

[marcwigle]

Found this public press release online:

http://detroitk12.org/news/article/2129/
Detroit Public Schools News Article

Detroit Public Schools Foundation launches first commemorative brick program to benefit Cass Tech High School

For more information on giving options, visit us online at www.detroitpsfoundation.org. Find the Foundation Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Detroi...31500533542459

I dunno... IMHO auctioning off bricks from a building left to rot is a bit much. Maybe if they had thought of this idea prior to the closing of the school, it would be a little easier to swallow. It's almost like they're auctioning off pieces off a corpse... maybe I'm making too much of it. It just seems disrepectful, for some reason. I do welcome the opportunity to be told that I'm off-base though.

[Zacha341]

Yeah, it's a bit weird and sorta an after thought feeling type gesture, but better something formal as appose the usual scrapping - unquantified... LOL! I drove by there late last night and they've got some of those giant 'work at night' spot lights erected on the north east side now. So the tear down must be soon........

I dunno... IMHO auctioning off bricks from a building left to rot is a bit much. Maybe if they had thought of this idea prior to the closing of the school, it would be a little easier to swallow. It's almost like they're auctioning off pieces off a corpse... maybe I'm making too much of it. It just seems disrepectful, for some reason. I do welcome the opportunity to be told that I'm off-base though.

[marcwigle]

Yeah, it's a bit weird and sorta an after thought feeling type gesture, but better something formal as appose the usual scrapping - unquantified... LOL! I drove by there late last night and they've got some of those giant 'work at night' spot lights erected on the north east side now. So the tear down must be soon........

And just think how much money they could have raised if they sold all of the books and equipment that was left in the building after they closed up... what a shame.

[evergreen]

The failure to organize the retreat from the Old Cass Tech typifies the organizational skills of those running DPS. The waste depicted in the Free Press photos is unbelievable. Surely they could have hired a middleman to haul and sell that stuff; at least DPS would have gotten something and these supplies would not have been wasted. It's the waste rather than the loss of potential income that is most disgusting.

Someone should be held accountable for this.

[marcwigle]

The failure to organize the retreat from the Old Cass Tech typifies the organizational skills of those running DPS. The waste depicted in the Free Press photos is unbelievable. Surely they could have hired a middleman to haul and sell that stuff; at least DPS would have gotten something and these supplies would not have been wasted. It's the waste rather than the loss of potential income that is most disgusting.

Someone should be held accountable for this.

You're right on both counts but, the waste could have been turned into income if they had had half-a-damn-brain. As for being held accountable... um, that won't be happening any time soon. Same as in governments in both the US and Canada.

[stasu1213]

Radio story on DPS Demo plans and workshop to sell them instead of demo

http://www.michigannow.org/2010/11/1...re-demolition/

What is going to happen to the auditorium which is only 24 years old. Will it be razed with the rest of the building?

[Zacha341]

I doubt there'll be any separating of the 'quick' from the 'dead' here... that would be too cumbersome. I think it will all be collectively meeting the bull-dozer and back hoe [[and the scrappers formal and otherwise)...

What is going to happen to the auditorium which is only 24 years old. Will it be razed with the rest of the building?

[Jared9903]

What is going to happen to the auditorium which is only 24 years old. Will it be razed with the rest of the building?

Forgive me if I misunderstood you, but Cass Tech's main auditorium is over 90 years old.
There is a very small auditorium in the newer section, but it is no where near as impressive as the older one.

This is a picture of the much larger, original auditorium, which is falling into disrepair even when this photo was taken.

[DetroitZack]

^Thanks for posting that picture. Maybe it's just me but I "explored" Cass Tech months back and the old auditorium seemed so much larger then that picture makes it look. The auditorium mroe-so then anything else in the building sticks out in my memory.

[iheartthed]

^Thanks for posting that picture. Maybe it's just me but I "explored" Cass Tech months back and the old auditorium seemed so much larger then that picture makes it look. The auditorium mroe-so then anything else in the building sticks out in my memory.

It is much larger... That photo is taken from an aisle at the center of the room.

[jerrytimes]

No... I make it sound like the building hasn't been closed for 10 years as the person I replied to stated.

So I thought it was 10. Who cares. My point is that the place is destroyed on the inside due to typical poor protecting in the city of abandoned buildings and that there is no point in keeping it standing. It's called progress and while personally I prefer older structures, when they become unusable like this one for whatever reason, they need to go.

[iheartthed]

So I thought it was 10. Who cares. My point is that the place is destroyed on the inside due to typical poor protecting in the city of abandoned buildings and that there is no point in keeping it standing. It's called progress and while personally I prefer older structures, when they become unusable like this one for whatever reason, they need to go.

Cass Tech has been empty for 5 years. The Book Cadillac was empty for 20 years. The Fort Shelby for even longer. Tearing down abandoned buildings just to tear them down is not called progress, but I do have a word for it: stupid. I have another word for it: short-sighted. Finally, in case the point hasn't gotten across to you yet, abandoned buildings aren't Detroit's problem -- Detroit's thought process is Detroit's problem.

[mcsdetroitfriend]

^Thanks for posting that picture. Maybe it's just me but I "explored" Cass Tech months back and the old auditorium seemed so much larger then that picture makes it look. The auditorium mroe-so then anything else in the building sticks out in my memory.

It was huge! Check out Detroiturbex.com
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