I found an abandoned school in Corktown today. It was formerly known as The Burton International School of Excellence a.k.a. The Benjamin Franklin School. It was completed in 1921 and it appears, according to its signpost “accepting applications 2011…” to have stopped operating in 2010-11. Apparently, when it shut down, the premises remained unlocked and a deluge of squatters (some fugitives) swooped in. The surrounding community worked hard to appeal to its owners to kick the squatters out, clean up the place, and lock it down. It looks like that is exactly what happened. I took a silent, empty, vacant tour of the site. All I could do was stare at the main entrance and think of the bodies and minds that used to rush in and out through those doors when bells rang or look over at the basketball court and imagine noise, laughter, competitive chatter, while a ball bounced amongst them.

Below is the walkway students would take to enter the school. Now, it’s being overtaken by weeds.

28jun15. Detroit, MI.