THURSDAY, MARCH 27 — The old Eastern High School’s cupola fell into pieces today despite University of Michigan Health-Sparrow’s promise to preserve it as a planned memorial garden centerpiece.

UM-Sparrow “took special steps this morning to try to retrieve the cupola,” but its condition made it unsalvageable, spokesperson John Foren said by text this morning.

“It basically shattered as soon as we tried to retrieve it,” Foren added.

“The wood framing was rotted, and the cupola was made of small sections rather than one large piece,” he said. “That made it more fragile.”

The cupola dates back to 1928, when the school opened, Jim MacLean,  head of community outreach for Capital Area District Libraries, said today. 

Preservation advocates had still hoped the cupola would survive demolition of the landmark west wing on Pennsylvania Avenue, which began Tuesday. Old Eastern is the victim of UM-Sparrow’s expansion plans adjacent to its hospital complex on Michigan Avenue. UM-Sparrow acquired old Eastern as part of the merger with Sparrow Health System.

 Chris O’Jibway who watched the cupola tumble this morning. She disagreed with Foren’s account.

“It was perfectly intact this morning,” she said.

O’Jibway said there did not seem to be much of an effort to save it.

She said she arrived at 6:50 a.m. to watch the demolition. At 7:12, she said, the  E.T. MacKenzie Co. of Grand Ledge team hit the building “in such a way that the triangle of slate underneath the cupola cascaded down and crashed into a pile of debris.”

“After that happened, the cupola was just hanging there at a 45-degree angle,” she said. “They tried to make a platform of debris to roll closer to it. And then they reached over with a scooper, and I thought perhaps they were going to lift it off and save it. But then they switched it to a claw, and clawed at it.”

“It swung loose, and it fell and smashed against the ground.”

Randy Eberbach, who recorded the cupola’s final moments on video, believed the demolition team intentionally obscured the effort from the public. He said he was not told when the cupola would be torn down, despite asking.

“They tried to sneak it in,” Eberbach said.

City Pulse requested Monday to know when the cupola’s removal would happen so a photographer could document it. Foren acknowledged the request, but no further information came.

On Monday, Foren said it would be “a complex removal process” and that UM-Sparrow was not sure “what day or time” it would be done.

O’Jibway said she believes UM-Sparrow was dishonest about their attempts to remove it.

“They clawed it down,” she said.

End of City Pulse article