Demo begins of historic former Roosevelt Elementary in Keego Harbor

By Louis Aguilar, laguilar@detroitnews.com

Demolition has begun on a century-old college in Keego Harbor that conservationists have fought for years to avoid wasting.

The previous Roosevelt Elementary Faculty constructing, situated on Cass Lake Street in Keego Harbor, first opened in 1920 and closed in 2022 after a part of the ceiling collapsed. College students had been moved to a different constructing within the West Bloomfield college system.

A conservation group referred to as Coronary heart of the Lakes Group Inc. sued the college district over Roosevelt, arguing in courtroom that the West Bloomfield college board violated the Open Conferences Act by failing to publicly focus on different choices for the previous constructing.

However college board and college district officers insisted the constructing was too harmful to maintain open and that essentially the most cost-effective step was to raze the constructing.

“Security is our primary precedence,” Dr. Dania Bazzi, superintendent of the West Bloomfield Faculty District, stated in a press release Wednesday. “We perceive that is troublesome information for some, however it’s now not a protected or viable area for contemporary training.”

Exterior the college on Wednesday, bulldozers clawed by the college’s partitions, pulling down giant chunks. A fence closed off the college for months as district officers waited to maneuver ahead with the demolition.

The varsity board voted in September 2023 to demolish the construction. At a gathering in March 2024, the board turned down a $1.7 million provide from an architectural agency that wished to renovate the constructing into rental items.

An injunction halted demolition for a number of months, however an appeals courtroom ruling in August cleared the way in which for demolition to start. The courtroom dominated that the college district had the best to find out essentially the most possible plan of action.

“We had been serious about preserving this constructing as a result of it had historic worth,” stated Jennifer Vasquez, founding father of Coronary heart of the Lakes, primarily based in Keego Harbor. “We thought it might be repurposed, and we thought it was the best good for our group.”

The West Bloomfield Faculty District has created a Google Type for residents to fill out if they need a brick from the previous college.

Workers author Max Reinhart contributed to this story.