History of Highland Park Municipal Building

With the growing population of Highland Park in the early 1900s, the need for a city hall building was need. In charge of the design was Marcus Burrowes, a notable Detroit architect. Interestingly he also designed the still in use Dearborn City Hall, at the time of construction known as the Springwells Municipal Building. Both structures feature a spiral staircase, and were built within a year of each other. In the early 1920s. For years Gerald St hosted the public services of Highland Park, however with decline in population and tax base, the city merged the police and fire departments of the city into the police station, turning it into the public safety building. In 1999 the public safety building was closed and all operations of highland park were conducted under the municipal building. In 2001 the city of Highland Park was taken over by a state emergency manager. This plan closed the last remaining city building, and together for years the 3 buildings remained abandoned throughout state takeover of the city. By the early 2010s the buildings had decayed to alarming degrees. In 2011 the back section of fire department collapsed, and was later demolished in the section of the collapse. The Police Station and later Public Safety building was demolished in full in 2012. With all criminal records, and evidence left inside, being demolished with the building. In 2013 the new Highland Park Fire Department Headquarters opened on the land of the former police station, with funding provided from a 2009 FEMA grant. Today the municipal building has been gutted and little remains aside from the spiral staircase.