History of Vetal Elementary School

Vetal Elementary School was built in 1926 under the direction of Redford Township. The Original District #3 school that would have served the same neighborhood as the present day Vetal School was a one room 20 x 24 foot frame building. It was built in 1847 at the cost of $140.00. The school was located between Lyndon and Fullerton st. and Greenfield and Lasher. In 1887 the wooden frame building was replaced with a one room brick structure which served until 1926. Prior to his death in 1922, Peter deeded a portion of his farm (one city block), so that a new and larger school could be built one day. After the farm was sold and subdivided in 1925 the site between Kendal / Acacia and Grandville / Westwood streets was selected. Work began on a two room temporary building to care for the students while the new main school was under construction. In March of 1926 the first section of Vetal, being 6 classrooms was completed, with a enrollment of about 240 pupils and six teachers. Just two months into Vetal’s time as a school it was annexed by the city of Detroit to become part of Detroit Public Schools. Another addition was added as enrollment spiked in the neighborhood, adding 7 more classrooms in 1931. In 1940 another addition added the major common areas of the school including the auditorium, a combined gymnasium/lunchroom and a kitchen alongside 4 additional classrooms. Just 10 years later another addition would be added as enrollment continued to push the school to capacity in the baby boom of the post WWII era. This addition included five new classrooms, an art room, two kindergarten rooms and a small room for musical instrumental instruction. In 1954, the third addition was completed on the north side of the original building next to the auditorium adding five new classrooms, a health room and a larger music room. The final addition of Vetal would come in 1971 with the addition of 10 new classrooms. In the end Vetal would grow to 72,000 sf. with each addition having a very distinct style of Detroit Public Schools in the era of the addition, for example the 1971 addition, incorporates drop ceiling with a small crawl space below, while the 1950s additions include CMU based designs of the era. Vetal ties with about a dozen other schools at 5 additions for the second most additions to a school in the district, only beat to Redford High School (demolished in 2012). While many schools of the 2000s closed due to declining enrollment, Vetal continued to have over 1000 students into the 2000s. However it was chosen as a school to close from consolidation efforts from Detroit Public Schools into the new Gompers Elementary School that opened in 2011. Closing Vetal in 2011 for the first couple years the school was monitored by Detroit Public Schools police and remained in great shape, prompting a buyer in 2013, Rev. Keith Hill signed a lease-to-own agreement with DPS. His vision was to move his church, Kindred Ministries, into the 300 seat auditorium and transform the rest of the building into a trade school. The idea came from his personal background as a skilled tradesman. The school was in great shape when he first toured it, saying it was the school when he saw it, but between the time Hill signed the lease and got access to the building, misfortune struck. Scrappers got in and did a number on the building’s plumbing, heating, and electrical systems, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. That same year to attempt to combat scrapping the power was restored out of pocket from Hill himself, costing over $20,000. While church pews were placed in auditorium and the original seating taken out the school never saw a second chance at life, as funding likely ran dry as scrapping continued. However compared to many schools like it Vetal remains in very great shape aside from the 1971 addition. Almost all murals remain in near perfect shape. While for now Vetal is abandoned, it is planned to be reopened by 2028, according to Detroit Public Schools in a 2022 report. which plans to renovate Vetal to relieve overcrowding at Gompers, the school that originally closed the school in 2011.