To “raise awareness of the social and economic challenges the city of Detroit,” the folks at Detroiturbex decided to tell the story about an abandoned Lewis Cass Technical High School with the help of superimposed then-and-now photos. First, they photographed every room the old Detroit school, which was abandoned after a 2007 fire. Then they put the pictures of the buzzing life from the past on top of them.

These sad pictures are a mirror of today’s Detroit. The city has suffered tremendous population increases and then rapid declines. Today, Detroit is designed for 2 million people, however, less than 1/3 or ~ 700 thousands have remained in the city. The infrastructure, built at the time of the population boom, stands abandoned, run down and an easy target for arsonists.

Update: “the school wasn’t abandoned because of a fire in 2007. A brand new, state of the art, school was completed right next door in 2005-2006 and that’s why the building was abandoned. There was a fire in the empty building in 2007, but the building was torn down last year to make way for new athletic facilities.” (thank you Samantha for the info!)

Website: detroiturbex.com

School dance

A 1988 basketball game

One of several biology labs

Second floor hallway

The library, from a picture in an early 90’s yearbook

The arts mural on floor 3, 1988

Last day of school

First floor of the old auditorium

Dance hall in the new wing

Pep band makes their way through a crowd

Volleyball match

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