Paul Robeson Academy

**SWMAP** · May-10-11, 10:53 AM

So tragic for that school. But hopefully there is a substitute building that was properly buttoned up and can now be re-opened.

The Free Press reports that the building was a former boy's school. Looks huge. I'm not a west-sider so I don't recognize it. St. Francis Home for Boys?

**MikeM** · May-10-11, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by SWMAP

St. Francis Home for Boys?

Yes.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011051...xt%7CFRONTPAGE

From WSU Virtual Motor City:

**DetroitTeacher** · May-10-11, 11:17 AM

DPS is looking at Thurgood Marshall school as an alternative to Robeson. Pity, it was a really nice looking building.

**SWMAP** · May-10-11, 11:20 AM

I remember that St. Francis Home was run by the Sisters of St. Joseph from Nazareth, Michigan.

**Danny** · May-10-11, 11:49 AM

What a total loss for that historic building. What more historic Detroit buildings could be ready to be burned!

DetroitPole · May-10-11, 01:34 PM

Poor kids. I have to say, looking at that building, I can't help but think that walking into there you'd have to have some kind of sense of being destined for good things. I hope they don't end up in some inner city brutalist bunker school.

I hear it is a good school, though I haven't seen the statistics. I hope they perservere and these kids get a good education in the end.

**Hypestyles** · May-10-11, 02:18 PM

.. is the fire finally put out yet? is the building able to be renovated or is it gutted?

**English** · May-10-11, 03:19 PM

Very sad. Robeson was founded by one of my former vice-principals at Bates. This is one of the good schools; hope they can recover from this.

**Gary** · May-10-11, 03:26 PM

Another landmark from my old neighborhood is no more. This is really sad.

**professorscott** · May-10-11, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

.. is the fire finally put out yet? is the building able to be renovated or is it gutted?

I went by the building, still in flames, about 10:15 this morning. The damage is very extensive. Any building can be renovated, but DPS owns a lot of vacant buildings which it could move the school into much more inexpensively than trying to fix this one. From a distance - police wouldn't let us get very near - it looks like major portions toward the center of the building are very extensively damaged. Pity.

**EMG** · May-11-11, 06:34 AM

I too am curious about the St. Francis Home for Boys aspect. I used to contribute to the St. Francis Home many years ago but never knew just where it was [[I was an east-sider).

Does the St. Francis Home for Boys still exist in some other building to which it moved to? Or did it close down completely as an institution when the building apparently became Paul Robeson Academy? I tried Googling it but didn't find anything easily.

**SWMAP** · May-11-11, 11:40 AM

This article is good. After you read it you can see why the Sisters of st. Joseph couldn't keep the building or the work. Just not equipped to solve the deep problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/12/ma...ght-lives.html

**TiCub** · May-11-11, 03:11 PM

The last I heard they moved to a building on 8 Mile Rd. near the Southfield Freeway.
I was in St. Francis in the late 40s & early 50s.

**downtown_racine** · May-11-11, 04:32 PM

A bunch of pictures here----->http://www.detroitfunk.com/?p=5314#comments

Surprised the bricks walls survived as well as they did, no wonder why. Kahn designed and built like a brick sh!thouse.
Looks like a very big building and was very nice looking. I'm sure its a total loss and teardown, fire is a sad way to go. I wonder what caused it ?

ferntruth · May-11-11, 06:53 PM

Yes, sadly the students of Paul Robeson academy will have to find someplace else to not learn...

**Huggybear** · May-11-11, 07:03 PM

DPS has insurance. It has a big self-insured retention, but it has insurance. This can and should be rebuilt. And to quote the other Kahn [[er, Khan)... "Enterprise was not so damaged as we were led to believe."

**sirrealone** · May-12-11, 08:30 AM

Originally Posted by Huggybear

DPS has insurance. It has a big self-insured retention, but it has insurance. This can and should be rebuilt. And to quote the other Kahn [[er, Khan)... "Enterprise was not so damaged as we were led to believe."

I read that they're self-insured, so it will probably come down to what the least cost option is. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to use another building that's currently mothballed if that works out to be a cheaper option versus repairing the damaged building.

**Danny** · May-12-11, 09:30 AM

An La Nina operated early morning thunderstorm with its deadly lighting bolts struck the roof of Paul Robison Academy causing it burn like paper. I'm not sure that building will be fixed since the Detroit School Board is cash strapped!

**Detroitej72** · May-12-11, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by ferntruth

Yes, sadly the students of Paul Robeson academy will have to find someplace else to not learn...

You obviously have no clue of what your talking about. The students of Robeson had to maintain a certain GPA, and many went on to higher learning. But hey, why let facts get in the way of a cheap shot.