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Demolition
of
former
Martin
Luther
King,
Jr.
Senior
High
School
has
begun
DETROIT
-
Demolition
of the
former
Martin
Luther
King,
Jr.
Senior
High
School
has
begun,
with
excavators
on site
today,
tearing
down the
administration
and
science
lab
wings in
the
first
phase of
demolition.
It will
take
about
four
weeks to
raze the
230,000-square-foot
school
that was
built in
1963.
One of
the
largest
projects
in the
Detroit
Public
Schools’
$500.5
million
bond
construction
program
voters
approved
in 2009,
the MLK
project
includes
razing
the
48-year-old
building
facing
Lafayette
Street.
The
auditorium
of the
former
school
will
remain
in use.
The new
school,
complete
with a
new
athletic
complex
and
cyber
café,
will
connect
to the
auditorium
that is
receiving
upgrades
that
include
interior
finishes
and
systems.
The new
$46.4
million
facility
will
face
Larned
and
McDougall
streets
with the
focal
point
being
the
glass
façade
of the
MLK
Center
which
will
house
the
cafeteria
and a
small
amphitheater
for
student
assemblies.
More
than
1,000-square-feet
of 4ft.
by 8ft.
Vision
glass
panels
have
been
installed
to the
commons
area to
capture
the
largest
amount
of
natural
light
and make
the LEED
Gold-certified
building
more
energy
efficient.
Jenkins/Granger,
a 49%
Detroit-headquartered
firm, is
the
design
builder
for the
MLK
project.
TMP
Architecture
is the
architect.
Construction
of the
new MLK
school
began in
Summer
2010 and
will be
open for
students
in
September.
Detroit
voters
approved
Proposal
S in
Nov.
2009
which
enabled
the
district
to
access
$500.5
million
for
school
capital
improvement
projects.
DPS
received
the
sixth
largest
allocation
in the
nation.
The
improvement
program
also
includes
technology
upgrades
and
security
initiatives
being
funded
with
Proposal
S
dollars.
To
comply
with
federal
guidelines,
all bond
dollars
must be
spent
within
three
years
and all
projects
must be
completed
by Sept.
2012.
Since
work
began
just
over a
year ago
in one
of the
city’s
largest
construction
projects
that
will
build
and
renovate
18
Detroit
Public
Schools
facilities,
nearly
500,000
hours
have
been
logged
by
workers
employed
by
Detroit-headquartered
companies
at 14
active
job
sites.
Four
school
projects
are 100
percent
complete
where
students
spent
their
last
weeks of
this
school
year in
modernized
classrooms,
gymnasiums
and
theater
rooms.
By the
start of
school
in the
fall,
nine
more
schools
will
open for
the
city’s
schoolchildren,
and
demolition
of the
nearly
90-year-old
Cass
Technical
High
School
will be
complete,
for a
combined
total of
$325
million
in
construction-related
spending
funded
by
$500.5
million
Proposal
S
dollars
voters
approved
in 2009.
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