Detroit Public Schools break ground on first school in $500.5 Million Capital Improvement Project

New $45.3 million Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School will open in 2011

DETROIT (Tell Us Det) - Detroit Public Schools parents, students, faculty and officials, joined by civic and community groups, broke ground today on the new $45.3 million Martin Luther King (MLK) Jr. Senior High School. Once construction is complete in 2011, the new MLK building will be a LEED gold certified, state-of-the-art facility that will emphasize a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) curriculum, house a cyber café and media center and include a multi-lane natatorium.

MLK is the first of 18 schools that will be newly constructed or renovated with $500.5 million of federal stimulus dollars resulting from the passing of the Proposal S Bond Referendum. This groundbreaking comes seven months after voter approval of Proposal S, six months since the sale of the bond, and five months after the initial selection of the program manager, Walbridge Joint Venture.



"It's fitting that the first DPS school to be rebuilt is Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High School, a school named for a civil rights activist who devoted his life to fighting for equality,” said Robert Bobb, DPS Emergency Financial Manager. “And thanks to voters for the passage of a $500.5 million bond issue last November, we are building or completely remodeling 18 schools that –within three years --will allow our students to be educated in state-of-the-art facilities that you see in the best school districts. This construction project also will better neighborhoods and create thousands of new jobs for Detroit residents."

The new building is scheduled to open in September 2011 with a main entrance on Larned. It will replace the existing MLK school, at 3200 E. Lafayette Street. Students will attend classes during the 2010-2011 school year in the existing facility while construction proceeds on the new building. Once students are relocated next fall, the 40-year-old building will be demolished. More than 1,500 students are enrolled at MLK.


Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and DPS Emergency Finance Manager Robert Bobb are joined by MLK students, teachers and civic leaders during the ground breaking ceremony Friday on the city's eastside. (Photo by HB Meeks/Tell Us Detroit)

The new MLK structure will be LEED gold certified. The MLK campus will include a Geothermal Field and other renewable building elements that will serve as a sustainable teaching tool for the students and community. The current industry standard is silver for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a building design criteria and certification process established by the United States Green Building Council.

The MLK construction project was awarded last month to Jenkins Granger LLC, which is a 50 percent Detroit-headquartered firm. Three renovation projects are also set to get underway this month at John R. King Academic and Performing Arts Academy, Marcus Garvey Academy and Fitzgerald PK-8, which will become Bethune PK-8 in September 2010 after renovations are completed. The three construction firms managing the J.R. King, Garvey and Fitzgerald projects are 100 percent Detroit-headquartered.


In addition to the state-of-the-art facility emphasizing a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Curriculum and cyber café and media center, the new school will incorporate the current auditorium and performing arts building, which will be remodeled. The opposite end of the school will feature a new varsity gymnasium and the multi-lane natatorium. More renderings of the new MLK school can be viewed at www.dpsschoolconstruction.org.

Detroit voters approved the Proposal S Bond Referendum last November which enabled the district to access $500.5 million in federal dollars for school capital improvement projects. DPS received the 6th largest allocation in the nation.

The DPS School Construction Project will build a total of seven new schools from the ground up. Eleven more will receive extensive renovations or additions. All 18 schools are scheduled for completion by September 2012 to comply with federal guidelines.

The three-year improvement project also includes district-wide technology upgrades and security initiatives being funded with the Proposal S dollars. Federal regulations stipulate the bond dollars must be spent within three years.