Detroit residents get a final say this week on Cooley High's demolition

Detroit Public Schools Community District is holding a community meeting this Wednesday where Superintendent Nikolai Vitti will hear residents' concerns about the planned demolition of Cooley High School and detail the district's plans for what comes next. If you have something to say before demolition begins, this is the opening to say it.

DPSCD announced earlier this month that the full 1928 structure at the corner of Hubbell Avenue and Chalfonte Street on Detroit's northwest side will be torn down this summer. The decision reversed a commitment made in 2025 to save a portion of the building for use as a locker room, alumni museum, and meeting space.

District spokesperson Chrystal Wilson said the reversal came down to cost and time. "While early conceptual designs explored preserving the front facade, subsequent reviews determined that the cost and timeline to preserve an entire portion of the building would be cost and time-prohibitive," she said.

A hard grant deadline is pushing the schedule. The district received $15 million in state funding for the project tied to a September 30 expiration date. Demolition and initial site work must be finished by then. Once cleared, construction begins on a $25 million sports complex funded through the state appropriation and $10 million raised by the DPSCD Foundation. The new facility will include a football field, outdoor track, and green space, with a projected completion in 2028. The complex is intended to serve both DPSCD and the surrounding community.

Cooley opened in September 1928, designed by the architecture firm Donaldson and Meier in a Mediterranean Revival style. At 302,000 square feet, it is still the largest high school building in Detroit. Enrollment peaked at more than 3,700 students in the early 1930s, and the school served the northwest side for most of the twentieth century before closing after the 2009-2010 school year as district enrollment fell. The building has sat vacant since, accumulating arson damage, blight citations, and safety complaints.

The alumni roster runs long and specifically Detroit: Mike Ilitch, who built Little Caesars and the Red Wings; broadcaster Ernie Harwell; Motown songwriter and producer Lamont Dozier; labor organizer Jimmy Hoffa; and former NBA coach Willie Green all graduated from Cooley.

Superintendent Vitti has stated the district's position plainly. "Due to years of public outcry regarding safety, arson attacks and blight tickets, the building will be demolished," he said.

Not all of Cooley will be lost. Vitti said the district will preserve bricks — some to be handed out to alumni — along with the building's bell towers, terra cotta medallions, and entry archways, with salvaged artifacts worked into the new sports complex.

The community meeting is the district's formal opportunity to hear from northwest side residents before work begins. It starts at 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 10, at John R. King Academic and Performing Arts Academy, 15850 Strathmoor St.