Over 4,000 students graduated from the old Cass Tech high school before its closing in 2005, including a roster of Detroit's most famous former students, like Diana Ross, John Delorean and Ellen Burstyn. NPR interviewed several of Cass Tech alums, including Jack White and Lily Tomlin, about their memories of the almost century-old industrial Gothic building, which is now slated for destruction.
Excerpt:
Ray Litt, who graduated from Cass in 1948, walks over broken glass
inside the building. He has been its unofficial caretaker since it was
abandoned.
"This whole business of clearing
up this eyesore and being concerned about the safety of our students
because of the shape of the building is being used as an excuse," he
says.
Demolition crews are using generators
to help rip out the metals and equipment still left inside. Litt has
been trying to rally the 60,000 alumni for money and ideas.
Listen to the story
here.
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