Many of us have driven past this building hundreds of times. Many people know it, and many people don’t.
Although it’s been renamed a few times, it’s still fondly called the Walter H. French School, located at the corner of Mount Hope and Cedar in Lansing.
Thanks to the automobile industry, which continued to grow-grow-grow to impressive proportions during the 1910s, it meant a fast-moving, expanding population growth for Lansing. More people, more families meant more kids….so more schools were needed.
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1924: Construction began for a new school. 1925: School construction is completed and classes begin. 1950: The school was converted into solely a junior high school. 1957: Construction and addition of a new wing. 1981: Thanks to the falling number of students, the school had no choice but to close. 1983: School is sold to the Edye Company. 1996: It turns into the Walter French Academy of Business and Technology. Middle and high schools are combined. 2000: The school becomes the “first local public school to offer kindergarten through 12th grade under one roof.” 2004: School closes down due to budget problems. 2016: Fire breaks out on August 5, with cause and/or perpetrators unknown. 2018: Building is donated to Capital Area Housing…