UM-Sparrow begins demolishing old Eastern High School

(This story has been updated with additional information. City Pulse will continue to update it today.)

TUESDAY, March 4 — Demolition of the old Eastern High School started today.

The move comes a week after University of Michigan Health-Sparrow asked the city of Lansing for permission to demolish the building. UM-Sparrow intends to build a psychiatric facility on the property and has said the landmark school cannot be adapted to that use.

MacKenzie Companies of Grand Ledge began demolition on the building's northeast end, which housed the band room, among other facilities.

UM-Sparrow spokesperson Corey Alexander said today he has nothing to add to its statement a week ago that the building was "beyond repair."

“Given these challenges, the building is being thoughtfully removed to make way for a modern facility designed specifically to meet the community’s behavioral health needs," the statement said.

“To honor the history and legacy of Eastern High School, we are working with alumni to preserve meaningful artifacts and establish a memorial garden on the site.”

However, Jim Lynch, president of Eastern’s alumni association, said today UM-Sparrow executives haven't spoken to the alumni association in months.

"Total silence," he said.

The demolition comes a week after UM-Sparrow submitted a request to demolish the high school on Feb. 25. Rawley Van Fossen, director of Lansing’s Economic Development and Planning Department, approved the application. John Bean, Mayor Andy Schor’s spokesperson, said last week the administration had no choice. The process limits the city to reviewing only technical issues, such as the demolition company’s license. There are no grounds for the adminiatration or the City Council to intervene, he said.

The plan to demolish Eastern has long been controversial, with preservationists arguing the high school is one of the few remaining historical structures in Lansing. The building was designed by Irving and Allen Pond, who also designed Michigan State University and University of Michigan student unions.

The 97-year-old school opened in 1928 and closed in 2019, four years after the Lansing School Board sold it to Sparrow Health System. U of M Health acquired Sparrow two years ago.

A community group called the Coalition to Preserve Eastern High School and Promote Mental Health has advocated for the preservation of the structure’s west wing and auditorium. They argue that the structures could be restored and repurposed. Its efforts to negotiate with UM-Sparrow have been unsuccessful, and the Lansing City Council refused to intervene. It turned down a request to study whether old Eastern could be declared a historic district, which might have saved it.

An online petition from the coalition to save the high school has garnered over 800 signatures, and the group has created a website rebutting claims from UM-Sparrow that the building is in unsalvageable disrepair.

In a Feb. 27 update, Margaret Dimond, U-M Health Regional Network president, said the auditorium and west wing were “not salvageable” because of water damage. She said it would cost "hundreds of millions of dollars to bring it back to where it was even in the nineties.”

“It’s really not a place that humans should even walk through,” Dimond said.

Andrew Muylle of the Coalition to Preserve Eastern High School questioned the source of Dimond’s claims.

“We know for a fact that the entire rehab of Walter French school, which was in far worse condition than Eastern, cost around $39 million,” Muylle said. “Our question is where does that figure for water damage come from?”

Diamond said that UM-Sparrow has worked with preservation groups, but did not name any. Muylle said the coalition is unaware of any such interactions, but UM-Sparrow ceased communications with the group “months ago.”

Mayor Andy Schor said in a statement today that he loves the building and “hoped it could be repurposed for new use.” Schor said he has shared this hope with UM-Sparrow but had been told that “rehabilitating the building would cost many millions of dollars that will instead be used for needed health care.”

“While it is tough to lose a great old building, I look forward to greater access for our residents to the behavioral health care that is needed,” he said.

Nancy Mahlow, president of the Eastside Neighborhood Organization, said UM-Sparrow called her about the demolition this morning. Mahlow mentioned that the demolition has begun on the building’s east wings, making preservation of the west wing and auditorium still possible.

“It’s not done until that wrecking ball hits the main building, so we’re going to forge on,” Mahlow said.