Highland Park to Raze Crumbling Historic Art Deco Apartment Building on Woodward

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The strip malls on Woodward Avenue in Highland Park have given a boost to a city of about 8,000 that has a poverty rate of about 40 percent.

But there are still vacant buildings along Woodward that remain an eyesore.

One of the more visible ones — a long-vacant and decaying Art Deco apartment building, the Highland Towers, at 12850 Woodward Avenue and McLean Street — is scheduled to be razed this year, Sam Robinson of the Michigan Chronicle reports.

The building opened in 1932 and has been vacant for about 17 years.

“While the building holds sentimental memories for some, it has become a structure that puts our citizens at risk,” Highland Park Mayor Glenda McDonald told reporters at a press conference Thursday outside the building, according to The Chronicle.

The demolition will be paid for with pandemic relief funds.