I featured a particular parochial school in the previous post, and in this follow up I’ll showcase a couple public schools I was able to explore. One of these is pretty well known among the urbex community and I figure it’ll get recognized by those in the know, but I’ll keep them anonymous nonetheless. Detroit gets more than its share of vandals and arsonists and there’s no reason to make it easier for them. The main attraction at each of these schools was not the classrooms themselves, as they were mostly stripped bare and also very dark from being boarded up. Rather, as is often the case, the stars of the show were the gyms and auditoriums, as well as one spectacular old library.
As an apt curtain raiser, here is a shot peeking out from behind the curtains of this school’s theater stage.
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And here’s a few from the aforementioned library. It was very hard to shoot as it was very dark and much of the interior was covered in soot from a fire a few years ago. Still, I think these photos convey some of the place’s old glory.
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Next, a high school gymnasium featuring a mezzanine velodrome. Detroit has been the butt of jokes for so long now that it’s easy to forget how affluent it was in the first half of the twentieth century.
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I’ve been doing this for a while now and it is rare for a place to take my breath away, but that was the case with this auditorium. I initially entered through a side door, and upon taking in the view, had to stop and take it in for a while. I think I might have let out a low whistle. The last photo was taken pretty much from that spot where I first came in, and I hope it conveys some of the power of that place. The first shot, however, is from a room overlooking the seats. I’m not sure what this room was for, but I thought the burnt window framed the room quite nicely.
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This last was my favorite shot from that trip. Thank you for reading! Coming soon: ghost towns, shipwrecks, and other sights from my trip to Greece last month.
