It would be good if we could get it down as soon as possible. Last fall, a Detroit News investigation found that 1,181 vacant buildings stood within a block of a city school. The buildings endanger students because, residents and police say, they shelter rapists, crack dealers and marauding dogs. Burton International parents have been working for about seven years to get the former six-floor apartment building demolished. According to the Cass Corridor Neighborhood group, the school district bought it in 1997 with plans to expand the school.
Children become what they envision.
If you want them not to think and act negatively, you have to get rid of that building. Somebody's got to be held responsible. Following The News' investigation, which listed the Burton area 13th in the number of nearby abandoned buildings, parents started taking increased action. Parents sent a letter to district Chief Executive Kenneth Burnley Friday in hopes of getting action. The letter says parents have been given reasons ranging from a lack of money to the need to complete an environmental study.