Know the Facts.

Claims vs Facts about Eastern High School

UMHS NARRATIVE:

UMHS is portraying the entire Eastern building as in dire disrepair. The video they released shows damage to certain areas of the building and concludes none of Eastern can be saved.

FACT:

The water damage in the gym and library highlighted in their video occurred when the building was still a high school. The roof was repaired at that time, but cosmetic repairs were not completed. Mechanical spaces portrayed two decommissioned boilers and fail to show the newer boilers that replaced them in the same room. Much of the damage shown in the video is cosmetic and affects areas of the building no one is asking to save, including the massive gym. UMHS’s portrayal is selective and misleading at best, and dishonest at worst.

Photos from 2019 and 2024

Click here to view the full gallery of Eastern photos from 2019 and 2024

UMHS NARRATIVE:

UMHS indicates the building cannot be saved because it is full of asbestos and lead paint.

FACT:

Asbestos and lead paint can be removed, and must be addressed whether Eastern is demolished or saved. UMH-Sparrow Hospital has had asbestos removed while still operating as a hospital. Eastern had asbestos removed while it operated as a school. Many old buildings have asbestos and lead paint. This is not a reason to demolish a building.

UMHS NARRATIVE:

UMHS says the building cannot be used as a psychiatric facility, and it must be demolished.

FACT:

Citizens understand the building cannot be used as a psychiatric facility and have suggested numerous possible uses for how a preserved west wing and auditorium could enhance the new psychiatric facility and serve civic and/or private uses.

FACT:

The proposed building site of a new psychiatric facility as presented by UMHS, pictured below, locates the new building west of the Don Johnson Fieldhouse and not on the footprint of the west wing of Eastern or its auditorium. The west wing of the building and auditorium can be saved without jeopardizing the construction of a psychiatric facility. The two buildings can coexist.

UMHS NARRATIVE:

UMHS contends all of Eastern must be demolished in order for them to build their new mental health facility.

The yellow portion identifies the piece of the building that the Coalition is trying to save - the historic and iconic West Wing and Auditorium; the red indicates the piece of building that the Coalition agrees can be demolished.

The white shows the planned location of the new facility, the yellow shows the west wing and auditorium, and the red shows all property owned by UMHS, with the exception of the Don Johnson Fieldhouse.

UMHS STATEMENT:

“The old EHS building is not appropriate or feasible for the state-of-the-art behavioral health hospital our community deserves, due to its aged infrastructure and layout. We understand that many feel a connection to Eastern, and we will continue to work with the community to honor its legacy as we evolve the UofM Health-Sparrow campus to offer these and other lifesaving services for our community long into the future.”

UMHS Website - Enhancing Behavioral Health in Lansing

FACT:

The Coalition has agreed from the start that it is not feasible to use Eastern as a psychiatric facility. Developers have expressed interest in the building for other purposes.

Eastern may have fared better in hands other than UofM-Sparrow’s. Local developer Jeff Deehan, who has turned the old Holmes Street School into housing and is doing the same for a school in St. Johns, made this comment about the building - “Save Lansing Eastern High School, by all means. We’d do that project in a second.”

UMHS STATEMENT:

“The former Eastern building was built to serve students and teachers nearly 100 years ago – not to meet the modern behavioral health needs of our community.”

UMHS Media Statement - July 3, 2024

FACT:

The coalition fully agrees with this statement. It has advocated for preservation of the west wing and auditorium with wide-ranging possibilities for how it could serve to compliment and enhance the new facility, such as a welcome center for the extended hospital campus, medical library, classrooms for mixed hospital use (training, meeting space, etc.), and an auditorium for professional conferences and community use.

UMHS STATEMENT:

“We are already connecting with local elected officials, community leaders, mental health advocates, neighborhood groups and school alumni. We look forward to continuing to partner with all individuals who care deeply about behavioral health services and the legacy of EHS.”

UMHS Website - Enhancing Behavioral Health in Lansing

FACT:

Although the Coalition made several good faith efforts to engage with UMHS leadership, UMHS made little effort to connect and collaborate with the Coalition and declared early on that it would no longer talk to the group of alumni, eastsiders and preservationists who organized to save a small portion of Eastern from demolition. The coalition is the only organized group that is actively working to preserve the west wing and auditorium.

Architect sketches of the auditorium and west wing that appeared in the State Journal on May 17, 1927

UMHS NARRATIVE:

Those in favor of preserving the west wing and auditorium of Eastern do not support behavorial/mental health services.

FACT:

The Coalition has always been in support of a proposed UMHS psychiatric facility, and all members understand the mental health crisis and the need for extended services in the Lansing community. It has been our name since our inception: the Coalition or Preserve Eastern High School and Promote Mental Health.

UMHS NARRATIVE:

UMHS has indicated that it is not cost effective to save the building.

FACT:

Depending on the use of the building, grants could be acquired to help with renovation costs. UMHS discontinued community conversations involving the Mayor, Councilman Kost, and Senator Anthony that might have resulted in alternative funding. Saving part of the building could bring union construction jobs to the project and, depending on the usage, tax revenue for the city.

UMHS NARRATIVE:

UMHS has indicated they have talked with eastside residents and alumni and put out a survey on how to honor the building. The spokesperson for UMHS has said no one wants the building saved.

FACT:

UMHS is trying to control the narrative that no one wants the building saved and that it must be demolished completely to build a psychiatric facility. They have not been willing to have a collaborative conversation with the Coalition established to preserve a portion of Eastern, and the Coalition represents many people across the city who want the building to be saved. UMHS has not acted in good faith with the taxpaying residents of Lansing.

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Other Facts:

UMHS has threatened local politicians indicating they will build this facility elsewhere if they are unable to demolish this building in its entirety.

Although UMHS receives millions of dollars of State taxpayer dollars, the UMHS Board meets privately and does not hear public comments.

The same is true for their governing body, the U-M Health Board. Correspondence to engage in conversation with them was returned unopened.

The University of Michigan Board of Regents allowed one speaker 2 minutes of time to address this issue and asked no questions, nor was there any follow-up.

Despite multiple community efforts to understand UMHS’s need for this entire site, they have not explained why total demolition is their only solution.

While local politicians initially met with citizens, more recently they have ignored requests for continued discussion with Lansing voters concerning this issue.

We could find no evidence that UMHS has secured funding for building a psychiatric facility. It is unknown if/when this project will occur, since UMHS has not released any public information regarding their planning process or timeline.

Saving Eastern could bring union construction jobs. Saving Eastern and building a new mental health facility could bring even more jobs.

A few weeks prior to security fencing being erected around Eastern, people were still working regularly in offices in the west wing.

At the first meeting Margaret Dimond attended with selected members of the Coalition, city representatives, and UMHS employees, Dimond admitted she had never entered Eastern. Dimond is the regional system president of UMH-Sparrow.

Questions Yet To Be Answered:

What type of mental health facility will this be?
Will the psychiatric facility be in-patient or out-patient?
How will this facility project be funded?
Is there a plan to staff the new facility, given the national widespread shortage of healthcare workers?

Before the historic building is lost to demolition, it would be nice if the community had answers to some very basic questions.

Communications/Letters Written by Coalition Members:

Address to Lansing City Council

Letter to Lansing City Council

Letter to UMHS Board of Directors

Address given at UM Board of Regents Meeting

Links to News Articles:

Lansing schools to spend more than $1 million in energy efficient improvementS I mlive.com

U-M Health-Sparrow proposes new psychiatric hospital at former Lansing high school site I LSJ

Community committee forms to save old Eastern High School and support mental health | City Pulse

To diminish Lansing’s mental health crisis, save old Eastern High I City Pulse

Is former Eastern High School salvageable? An LSJ reporter toured the building