Grand Rapids, like cities throughout the country, is facing a declining school population. An immediate consequence of this is the issue of school closures. The Grand Rapids School District has slated eleven school buildings to close by 2029, and each building faces an uncertain future. The most recent public school to be demolished was the Kensington School Building, built in 1925 and closed in 2012. In a series of 35mm photographs, I photographed the demolition from start to finish, including the sale of its terra cotta at Pitch Sanitary Landfill and the school site’s conversion into meadow.
Since that demolition, the first two of the eleven schools scheduled to close have shut their doors. Furthermore, Aberdeen Academy, built in 1929, is the next slated for demolition. In this moment of rapid change in Grand Rapids, I seek to use photography to give Grand Rapidians a chance to pause and reflect on what we value and what we will fight to save.
Kensington School Building
1925–2024
Demolished
August 2023
October 2024 at the start of demolition.
November 2024
January 2024
The final resting for pieces of the school façade, separated from the building and sold by Pitsch Demolition.
The school site, now a meadow, in July 2024.
