The immediate danger to old Eastern High School

The Lansing City Council must move quickly to prevent the University of Michigan from dismantling old Eastern High School's interior.

The focus in this controversy over preserving one of our community's most significant landmarks has been on U of M's proposed demolition so it can build a psychiatric hospital on the site. However, as a UM Health-Sparrow official made clear in a Lansing State Journal article last week, the more immediate risk is to artifacts inside the building.

The Journal reported Connie O'Malley, U-M Health-Sparrow's regional chief operating officer, as saying it will save the parts of the building that are in good enough shape to give to alumni or other community members. O'Malley cited the auditorium's lighting fixtures, wooden chairs and wooden wall decorations as examples.

Demolition may or may not be around the corner, but U of M seems intent on destroying the historic value of old Eastern piece by piece in the interim. 

To stop this travesty, the City Council must promptly declare a moratorium preventing U of M from stripping the interior. It can do so under the city's Historic Districts ordinance, which says:

"If Council determines that pending work will cause irreparable harm to the resources located within an established Historic District or a proposed Historic District, Council may, by resolution, declare an emergency moratorium on all such work for a period not to exceed six months. The Council may extend the emergency moratorium for an additional period, not to exceed six months, upon finding that the threat of irreparable harm to the resources is still present. Any pending permit application concerning a resource subject to an emergency moratorium may be summarily denied."

The city's Historic District Commission unanimously approved a resolution last week to call on the Council to create a committee to study making old Eastern a historic district. If the Council does so, Mayor Andy Schor will appoint members, with the Council's approval, with expertise in historic preservation.

That is an important step. But, even if the Council moves quickly on a study committee resolution, it will still take time to set up the committee. Then, the committee has up to 12 months to complete its work and issue its report.

Meanwhile, UM-Sparrow's COO has already said it wants to give away what's inside the building. It is imperative that the Council go further and declare an emergency moratorium along with approving the study committee. 

UM-Sparrow said Friday it will no longer talk to the group of alumni, eastsiders and preservationists who organized to save old Eastern from demolition. Instead, it said, "We remain committed to working with the community on this project. We especially hope we can collaborate on ideas on preserving the historical legacy of Eastern."

By "preserving the historical legacy of Eastern," UM-Sparrow means letting people decorate their rec rooms with Eastern's fixtures. That has to be stopped now.