- A couple months back, UM Health Sparrow announced a plan to tear the former Eastern High School down, to build a mental health facility.
- The announcement came a long with a lot of controversy.
- Now there's a resolution on the table that would determine if the former Eastern High School is a designated historic location. If the school is deemed historical, it could impact UM Health Sparrow's plan
Historical features are what Pam Lay remembers most about the former eastern high school. She was a student there in the 70’s.
“So you kinda look at that as some of our history because that's our land,” Lay said.
So, Lay is one of many residents I've heard from who are against UM Health Sparrow's plan to tear the building down and build a mental health facility.
“It's like losing a family home, it's heartbreaking,” Lay said.
UM Health Sparrow's plan was announced a couple months back and will include 120 beds. But now construction may be delayed.
“The Historic District committee met at their regular scheduled August meeting and did vote to send a resolution to council for council to consider forming a study committee,” said Rawley Van Fossen, Director of Lansing’s Economic Development and Planning.
If that resolution passes, the committee will have 6 to 9 months to do research on the former eastern high school. From there, those findings will be passed back to council, who will then decide if the location is designated locally historic.
“It would likely limit the ability to tear the entire building down,” Van Fossen said.
We reached out to UM Health Sparrow they provided us with the statement below:
"A resolution to consider a historic district designation for the old Eastern High School building will delay or prevent University of Michigan Health-Sparrow from improving access to life-saving health care in Lansing.
We understand that some in our community have strong ties to the legacy of EHS, and we remain committed to working closely with EHS alumni and community members to ensure we meaningfully honor the history and value of the school. We invite our neighbors to share their ideas in our survey, send us an email at SupportingMentalHealth@umhsparrow.org and learn more about this important work at UofMHealthSparrow.org/SupportingMentalHealth."
