Cooley High School is coming down. All of it.
Detroit Public Schools Community District Superintendent Nikolai Vitti confirmed to Bridge Detroit that the full building will be demolished this summer. No date given. The news was first reported by HistoricDetroit.
A year ago, DPSCD had a different plan. The district was going to preserve a portion of the structure while demolishing the rest. That plan is gone.
"Due to years of public outcry regarding safety, arson attacks and blight tickets, the building will be demolished," Vitti said in an email. "Our last round of community engagement in the area about our plans for the building and land discussed the full demolition of the building."
Cooley opened in 1928. Mediterranean Revival architecture. Located at 15055 Hubbell Ave. on the northwest side. The building closed in 2010 and was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011. It is one of the largest vacant public school buildings in Detroit.
The original preservation plan included a locker room, weight room, community gathering space, and a dedication to Cooley alumni. Preserving the historic front facade alone would have cost an additional $2 million, Vitti said. Cost and timeline killed it. "This was communicated during our last round of community engagement," he added.
The demolition does not end the site's future. Plans for a $25 million sports complex on the property are moving forward. Vitti expects it to be completed by 2028. The complex will include a football field, outdoor track, and green space. DPSCD is using $15 million from the state for planning, design, and construction. The DPSCD Foundation raised the remaining $10 million.
In 2023, DPSCD rejected a proposal from nonprofit Life Remodeled, whose former CEO Chris Lambert offered $1 million in cash to buy the school and its 5.7 acres of athletic property, or $500,000 with a commitment to donate $1 million later. The idea was a community hub: pediatric mental health center, vocational college, after-school programming. Vitti raised concerns at the time about whether the district was underpricing the property and about the terms of the football field transfer.
Life Remodeled's current CEO Diallo Smith said in a statement that the organization maintains a strong partnership with DPSCD and is glad to see the sports complex move forward.
Ann Boucher, who taught English at Cooley from 1970 to 1977, told Bridge Detroit she remembers the marble staircases and a student population of at least 3,000. "I would like to have seen it turned into condos or apartments or something like that," she said. "It was a huge building, so to see it being destroyed is really sad."
The building held on for 16 years after its closure. It survived a listing on the National Register of Historic Places, multiple arson fires, years of blight citations, and at least one serious preservation attempt. This summer it comes down.
