As I eluded to in the first selection of school explores I accomplished in Detroit, my favourite schools of all somewhat suitably ended up being a few right towards the end of the trip, so it was nice to finish on a high.
The next day and a half saw us explore a further eight schools, some of course better than the others but it was a day full of surprises nonetheless.
Chandler Elementary School
The day started pretty much how we'd finished previously. Chandler is another pretty fucked one however you could see that under all the rubbish and graffiti it would at one point have been a real nice one to explore as there was plenty of stuff left inside upon closure - now strewn about the place of course. It also featured murals depicting black American historical figures in some of the corridors.
Chandler is an old school, built in 1905 and named after former mayor Zachariah Chandler. It reached it's peak enrolment at nearly 2400 students in 1914, and additional wings were added in 1922 and 1961. Enrolment had plummeted to just 362 students by 2002, and the school was closed in 2004.
Needless to say we didn't spent long here!
Hosmer Elementary School
Hosmer Elementary was built in 1921 and named after noted judge George Hosmer. It was extended in 1924 which enabled it to cater for 540 more students.
Like Chandler, it too closed in 2004 and is situated in a seriously blighted neighbourhood with many completely cleared blocks. Another fairly quick one although it is holding up slightly better than Chandler.
Colin Powell Academy
Originally opened as the St. John Berchmans Elementary School in 1924, over the next three years the church parish which ran the school struggled with crippling debt so members of the Servite order were asked to take over the running of the school in 1927. By 1942 the debt was under control and enrolment at the school was increasing and in 1949 a High School wing was constructed, and the school became known as Servite High School. During the 1970s and 1980s the enrolment began to decline and in 1986 the school closed. A decade later in 1996, state funded charter school the Colin Powell Academy took ownership of the building, a venture which lasted until 2010 when the charter for the school was revoked and it closed permanently.
This school is a strange one as in stark contrast to pretty much every other school there isn't a single board on any of the windows. It's almost as if they just never bothered and left the building to the elements.
Winsome Elementary School
The first of my real favourite schools. Somehow this school has been completely overlooked by pretty much everyone, the fact that it resides in a really rather bad area of an already dangerous city perhaps puts people off. But me? I loved it here. Totally un-tagged, and with largely natural decay save the windows being removed, and then boarded over, I could have stayed much longer than we did in the end which was a shame as I didn't get a chance to shoot the upstairs level.
Crockett Technical High School
Another school that really doesn't seem to get the attention it should. I had seen photos from the auditorium here floating around Instagram for a while but never realised it was this place, so walking in on the auditorium I had seen in photos was a great unexpected surprise.
Crockett Technical High, originally John Burroughs Intermediate School, was completed in 1927 to a similar E shaped design as Cooley. The classrooms occupied the wings and the central core housed the auditorium, swimming pool and two gymnasiums (one for boys one for girls). During the 1970s the surrounding neighbourhoods began to shrink with the closures of the large automobile factories nearby and in 2003 Burroughs was closed. It reopened in 2005 as Crockett Technical High School which had moved from another location, however this only lasted until 2012 when the school was closed and all students transferred to another school nearby.
Continued below....
The next day and a half saw us explore a further eight schools, some of course better than the others but it was a day full of surprises nonetheless.
Chandler Elementary School
The day started pretty much how we'd finished previously. Chandler is another pretty fucked one however you could see that under all the rubbish and graffiti it would at one point have been a real nice one to explore as there was plenty of stuff left inside upon closure - now strewn about the place of course. It also featured murals depicting black American historical figures in some of the corridors.
Chandler is an old school, built in 1905 and named after former mayor Zachariah Chandler. It reached it's peak enrolment at nearly 2400 students in 1914, and additional wings were added in 1922 and 1961. Enrolment had plummeted to just 362 students by 2002, and the school was closed in 2004.
Needless to say we didn't spent long here!
Hosmer Elementary School
Hosmer Elementary was built in 1921 and named after noted judge George Hosmer. It was extended in 1924 which enabled it to cater for 540 more students.
Like Chandler, it too closed in 2004 and is situated in a seriously blighted neighbourhood with many completely cleared blocks. Another fairly quick one although it is holding up slightly better than Chandler.
Colin Powell Academy
Originally opened as the St. John Berchmans Elementary School in 1924, over the next three years the church parish which ran the school struggled with crippling debt so members of the Servite order were asked to take over the running of the school in 1927. By 1942 the debt was under control and enrolment at the school was increasing and in 1949 a High School wing was constructed, and the school became known as Servite High School. During the 1970s and 1980s the enrolment began to decline and in 1986 the school closed. A decade later in 1996, state funded charter school the Colin Powell Academy took ownership of the building, a venture which lasted until 2010 when the charter for the school was revoked and it closed permanently.
This school is a strange one as in stark contrast to pretty much every other school there isn't a single board on any of the windows. It's almost as if they just never bothered and left the building to the elements.
Winsome Elementary School
The first of my real favourite schools. Somehow this school has been completely overlooked by pretty much everyone, the fact that it resides in a really rather bad area of an already dangerous city perhaps puts people off. But me? I loved it here. Totally un-tagged, and with largely natural decay save the windows being removed, and then boarded over, I could have stayed much longer than we did in the end which was a shame as I didn't get a chance to shoot the upstairs level.
Crockett Technical High School
Another school that really doesn't seem to get the attention it should. I had seen photos from the auditorium here floating around Instagram for a while but never realised it was this place, so walking in on the auditorium I had seen in photos was a great unexpected surprise.
Crockett Technical High, originally John Burroughs Intermediate School, was completed in 1927 to a similar E shaped design as Cooley. The classrooms occupied the wings and the central core housed the auditorium, swimming pool and two gymnasiums (one for boys one for girls). During the 1970s the surrounding neighbourhoods began to shrink with the closures of the large automobile factories nearby and in 2003 Burroughs was closed. It reopened in 2005 as Crockett Technical High School which had moved from another location, however this only lasted until 2012 when the school was closed and all students transferred to another school nearby.
Continued below....
