When it was built, Detroit was a rising star in Michigan and in need of educational resources. It was constructed at a cost of $758,270 in 1928 dollar and named after former Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas M. Cooley.

This glamourous Mediterranean Revival-style facility hosted a student population of 3750 in 1932. Cooley High School had a long list of notable alumni including Mike Ilitch and Jimmy Hoffa.

Detroit closed many high schools and concentrate students in Cooley High School but it still could not function in a sustainable way with less than 1,000 student enrollment. Eventually, Cooley was closed in 2010 and its 12 million dollar renovation in 2006 went into this ruin today.

Cooley’s auditorium saw many important figures. One could imagine it packed and warm when one step into its dusty ruin today - long after Cooley High School’s closure, a blazed severely damaged its auditorium. It makes people wonder whether a tragedy were still counted as one if there were no people left to care, just like rows after rows of uninhabited houses in northwestern Detroit.