HIGHLAND PARK COMMUNITY COLLEGE

I attended Highland Park Community College in the mid 1960's

A community college is a type of public higher education institution that typically offer two-year programs leading to an associate degree, certificates, or diplomas. A student may attend a community college with the goal of transferring to a four-year institution transfer credits and continue their education towards a bachelor's degree. Some students choose to enter the work force after completing the two year program and others go on to a four-year institution.

Highland Park Community College was located on a street called Glendale in Highland Park Michigan. It was opened 1n 1918. It was bordered on one side by Second Avenue and on the other side of the school was Third Avenue. The nearby main streets were Hamilton Avenue to the east and Woodward to the west.

Highland Park is a city in the middle of Detroit. It is about six miles north of downtown Detroit. It is surrounded by Detroit on basically all sides. Highland Park became a city in 1918. Currently it has a population of about 8,000 people. It once had a population of about 47,000 residents during the 1920's.

In 1907 Henry Ford purchased 160 acres in Highland Park. He built his first auto plant to build the Model-T at that site.

In 1925 the new Chrysler corporation built their first headquarters in Highland Park. It remained there until close to 1970 when they moved to Auburn Hills, Michigan.

During it's heyday Highland Park had good jobs, nice homes and good schools. Highland Park Community College had a good reputation and enrollment of nearly 3000 students.

When the Chrysler Corporation move out of Highland Park the city lost about twenty-five percent of their tax base. New suburb's were being developed north of Detroit and Highland Park. The city of Detroit had a riot in 1967. A few new community colleges were opened up in the new area's. The city lost a large portion of it's population.

Many small business's closed.

The people moved and Highland Park was not the same. All this had a great impact on Highland Park Community College. The school tried to hang on but times had changed.

By 1995 Highland Park College had closed. The building was abandoned.

I often watch You-Tube. I recently noticed some video's about abandoned buildings. One video was titled "an abandoned college in Detroit". It caught my attention and I clicked on the video. The You-Tubers had gone through the abandoned building on Glendale in Highland Park Michigan. This was the building that once was the home of Highland Park Community College.

This is what made me think of Highland Park and the community college that was once part of that city. They went through and made a video of the entire interior of the school. When a building is left abandoned for over thirty years to say it will deteriorate is an understatement. Between absolutely no maintenance for all those years, no heating or cooling. Water coming in through many broken windows and other sources. Vandalism and probably theft and massive deterioration it is basically unrecognizable. It is very shocking, depressing and sad!

I only went to Highland Park for a year and a half. I transferred to another school and earned a degree in accounting. I liked being a student there. I thought the atmosphere was nice and the school did a good job filling an important nitch in my education. I'm sorry to see what happened to the building but I have good memories of the school.

WRITTEN BY

RON TURETT

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