"Bring it down!" shouted a small crowd outside Flint Central High School.
Alumni, former faculty and officials had just counted down the start of demolition.
An excavator ripped through a wall, exposing an auditorium. Glass broke. Bricks fell, taking down the Flint school that sat vacant since it closed in 2009.
As this part of Central comes down, a new high school is under construction — the first high school to be built for Flint Community Schools students in 50 years, thanks in part to a grant of up to $100 million grant Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.
“You know you ride by and think 'oh it’s just a school' and then you think of all the stuff you did in it. It is a big deal,” said Carrie Nelson, of Flint, who has organized reunions for her class
that graduated from Flint Central High School in 1969. “They say 'why do you keep going by there?' I don’t know it’s something that pulls me. It’s exciting to see things move forward. It’s a blessing.”
For some, watching the demolition was bittersweet.
“I loved the school,” said Evelyn Booker, 70, of Flint, who played basketball there and graduated in 1974. Booker wiped away tears as others comforted her. Then she smiled and waved towards the building. “It just breaks my heart to see it come down but as long as I know it's coming back up, I feel good.”
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Flint Central demolished as new high school set to take shape
