About Cass Technical High School...

Cass Tech History:

This section is based on excerpts from "Cass History" received with
thanks from Ms Candace Campbell, Cass Tech Head Secretary (all
rights reserved), and Gardiner D. Leverett, CT '86- Electronics (where
noted). Where you see the (?) mark, information was either
incomplete or missing. If you could help to fill in the gaps, it would be
appreciated...

In the early 1860s (?), Lewis Cass, Michigan Territorial Governor from
1813-31 and famous U.S. Statesman, donated land to the City of Detroit
to build a new school. Although located in what is now downtown
Detroit, when the original parcel was donated (what would be the
area today bounded by Grand River Ave, High Street (Vernor Highway),
Second Ave and Gilman Street), it was located on the outskirts of town,
as city development extended only to Elizabeth street. On the site, a
twelve-room structure was built which became the first "Cass School".

Directly north of the school stood Jones' Grove - the site of the
present Cass Technical High School, Cass Park and Masonic Temple.
Opposite the school, on Grand River Road and Second Avenue
stood King's Cattle Yards, where large herds of cattle were bought and
sold. Across from the cattle yards stood a little brick store where a
German woman sold candy to the students (some things never
change! -ed), although with the civil war in full swing, the candy had to
be purchased with postage stamps and script, which had been issued
to relieve the financial stress caused by the war.

A typical day in the Cass School was quite different from the present
set-up; all of the students lived within walking distance and
could go home for lunch. Classes were held in two sessions from
8:45-12:00 and from 1:45-4:00, with fifteen minutes (!!!) between
classes.

As the city grew, farmland yielded to elegant homes of prominent
merchants and businessmen as well as to middle-class structures for
the working class citizens, who were to become to backbone of the city
we know today. To support the burgeoning demand, the school was
expanded to twenty-two rooms. The Cass School was the mecca of
thousands of Detroit citizens seeking training that was excelled in no
other part of the state. The caliber of training of Cass students was
never questioned, due to the high caliber of teachers employed at the
school.

Forty years after the inception of the Cass School, the
neighborhood had evolved once again, with boarding houses taking
the place of what had been fine homes. It was decided that something
had to be done to retain the prominence of the Cass School within the
city and state educational system; Wales Martendale (for whom
Martendale Ave is named), then-superintendent of schools, decided
that Cass should become a commercial and mechanical arts school
(planting the seeds for the current curriculum structure? -ed). The
programs were developed, and the new classes began in September
1907, with the basement of the First Presbyterian Church being rented
by the school for labs and art rooms. Additional funds were appropriated
in 1908 by the City Council and Board of Education to fund the
construction of a new addition, and installation of a new business
curriculum, which enabled students to take business courses and obtain
their diploma in two years (the seeds Commerce H.S.? -ed).

Disaster struck during the night of November 16, 1909, as a fire
destroyed the old building. The new addition was saved, and after the
shock of the calamity passed, classes resumed in the new addition
(which was now the main building!) and in a church at Woodward and
Sibley Avenues. The City Council authorized $225,000 for construction
of a new high school, which was to completely occupy the original site
donated by Lewis Cass. The new school, renamed Cass Technical School, was
completed in August, 1912 (?).

On the evening of September 1912, a new phase in the history
of Cass began with the opening of Cass Technical High Evening
School. The stated purpose of the school was to give the general
public increased proficiency in their fields of occupation. The day
and evening programs had separate principals, courses and graduation
ceremonies.

After a few years of operating in this manner, it became obvious that
even with the new school, more room was needed. It was almost
impossible to move through the halls during the passing of classes, with
twenty classrooms accomodating 1,500 students. The two study halls
combined seated only 300 people. The lunchroom was always
crowded, even though there were three lunch periods. There were not
enough lockers, so hat racks had to be placed in the halls. The
problem was studied by the principal, Mr Allen, who with the assistance
of two architects, drew up plans for the "Million-Dollar Annex". The
proposed building was to be 200 by 300 feet in size, seven stories high,
with five elevators. The annex was to be built on the northwest corner
of High Street and Second Avenue.

The plans lay dormant for awhile due to the advent of World War I,
however they were finally approved, and construction of the new
building began. During the construction, many interesting photographs,
were taken by the commercial agency of Godfrey and Grossman, which
show the development of the building we immediately recognize today
as Cass Tech. During construction, the Board of Education rented
three houses on the north side of Henry Street for classroom use.
A large building on Second, between Beech and Jones, was rented to
house laboratories. The homes on Henry street were later bought and
torn down to make way for school parking lots, which in turn yielded to
become the site of the current athletic field. The construction of the new
building was completed in 1922. Commerce High School took over the
old building, and thus gave Cass the distinction of being the only school
to have nurtured a school within itself.

Although the new building was known orginally as the "Million-Dollar
Annex", the two buildings were not connected. A memorial archway
connecting the two schools was completed in honor of the 67 Cass
students who lost their lives during World War I. In 196?, with declining
enrollment, and to make way for the new freeway system coming
through the area (?), the older building housing Commerce High School
was torn down and the school closed.

Commerce High School, however was not the only school to have
grown out of Cass; The George Trade School, Wilber Wright Trade
School, and the Nursing and Pharmacy Colleges at Wayne State
University were all spawned from programs that trace their beginnings to
Cass Tech.

A new addition, opened in November 1984 , houses a gym which seats
750 fans, an "almost Olympic-sized" swimming pool, a music department
with practice rooms, and a (second-story!!! - ed) lunchroom that seats
500 students...

...But all is not "roses in river city" (those that don't like to see or
hear negative things about our fair city or school, skip this section.
-ed)...Gardiner Leverett, CT '86 points out that:

The new addition was opened in November 1984. He was in the
symphony band at the time, with the music and business
departments meeting in the old Detroit Institue of Technology (DIT)
building up the street from the school. When the new addition opened,
the music department was moved back in over a week in the fall of '84.
The business department was not to move back in for years later.

The new addition was designed by the renowned architecture firm of
Albert Kahn and Associates, who proudly displayed the model of the
addition at their open houses during that time.

The actual addition had several flaws that the school is probably still
attempting to rectify (or not)...

1) The addition was attached to the main building, and not connected
by a corridor. Problem here is that the new addition was built in
conformance to the 1984 fire codes (with fire doors in the stairways) while
the old building was built to the 1919 code. Since the new addition
was attached to the main building, it is considered one structure, which
must conform to the then-current code (oops!). This meant, of course,
that the main building was now going to have to be brought up to code,
which meant, among other things, major stairway work (and there are a
lot of them!). At last note, only one had been reworked.

2) The 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th floors of the new addition were not
completed due to a lack of funds. The 4th, 5th, and 6th floors of the new
addition had a SINGLE forum style room at one end (close to the
freeway), and that was it. The 3rd floor (which overlooked the cafeteria)
had one classroom, and a door for a LOOOONG hallway which went all
the way to the other end of the building (major waste of space).

3) The cafeteria isn't really 2 stories. It's one BIG room with a ceiling
that is two stories high.

4) During the move of the big mural between the 7th floor cafeteria
and the 2nd floor, some student damaged the painting by throwing ink
on parts of it. It was partially repaired by the original artist, but it was
not completely saved. It's still hanging, damage and all.

5) The music department head at that time, Mr. Jack Shelby, had
requested the the entire music department be constructed with a type
of sound absorbing bricks. That was supposedly done.....except that
the paint that was used was not the correct kind, but instead soaked
into the bricks turning the entire deparment (symphony room, choral
room, practice rooms) into a large echo chamber (which is horrible for
practicing). In a visit to Cass some years ago, it was noted that
the new band director, Mr. Hewitt, had installed sound curtains in the
band room, which by the way, also had a two story high ceiling.

6) The "almost Olympic-size pool" wasn't planned that way. Since the
swim team had been winning the city championships for many years, and
there wasn't a decent competition-size pool in nearby environs, the new
pool was supposed to be a place where city meets could be conducted.
The pool area has a grand stand, a nice electronic clock, and a
"judges/officials" area. Everything was set...except for one key point
the pool was constructed using the "English" system rather than the
"Metric" System...sooo...the pool is a 50-yard rather than a 50-meter
pool, and therefore cannot be used for sanctioned meets (ooops!). This
kind of threw a hitch into the original plans to rent the facility out when
not in use by the school teams. A few dollars lost here, for want of a few
feet...Word had it that the original plans for the addition went back
to the mid '70s and were never updated (at least this section anyway).

7) The brightest spot in the addition is the gym. The floor and
bleachers are fantastic... especially for watching Cass
beat Renaissance!

There was one additional sad "facilities" note...

For those who may remember, there were a NUMBER of different
murals and other paintings on the walls of the main building. In the three
weeks between the end of summer school '85 and the start of fall term,
ALL of the murals in the main building were painted over and destroyed
(by someone's "request" as we understand...). New murals were added,
but all originals (which may have been there up to 15 years at that point)
were gone.

The 120-plus years of the "Cass
School's" history, has shown a school that began with high expectations
and exceeded them, yet has never rested on its laurels. Activities are
constantly underway to improve the faculty, and increase the quality of
its educational programs and extra-curricular activities.
The overall feeling of some of the actives and many alums is
summarized nicely in this student's observation made some time ago:

Cass, our school, is a wonderful place to us. The stairs have hollows
worn in them from the shoes of hundreds of thousands of students
hurrying to class, and the desks are carved with the names of long-
forgotten and some not-so-long-ago students. Still, when we get our
diplomas at the end of four years, we know we are losing something
irreplaceable. "Cass" may be only a four letter word, but it means more
to us. We may have complained and disagreed, but Cass has been,
and will be, a part of our lives. And we are proud of it!!!