Latest school plan dies

Since at least 2020 there has been a proposal floating around to repurpose the long-closed Annie Lathrup School building into a new private school called the Lathrup School. Under the leadership of T.R. Ahlstrom on behalf of the George Washington Scholars Endowment, it was envisioned as a nonprofit, self-funded institution for classical education.

The building itself, built in the 1920s for the children of our town’s early residents, started as an independent public school. It eventually joined the Southfield Public School District and later became a private school. Now vacant, it is currently owned by The Surnow Company, a property developer which also owns the shopping center across the street from the school where the Town Hall once stood.

The rollout of the proposal was slow and quiet, perhaps partially due to the pandemic. Some residents were invited to participate in a Civic Committee in 2020. There was a poorly attended public meeting last year. Then in January, 2022, Ahlstrom appeared before the Lathrup Village City Council asking them to approve an “understanding” between the city and Surnow that obligated no one to anything. Rather, Ahlstrom referred to a shared commitment to explore the possibility of the school.

Ahlstrom called Annie Lathrup School an architectural gem that was in a “shameful state” of repair. “To tear it down would be a travesty.” To gut it “would be still worse.” He also pointed out that many Lathrup parents don’t send their children to Southfield Public Schools, a number he put at 40 percent.

When asked, Ahlstrom said he had raised less than $10,000 to that point, all of it from individuals. When a Southfield School Board member raised concerns, he said the new school “is no competition for the American public school. We are teaching things you don’t teach.”

The most alarming thing I heard, watching that meeting, was when he said Sam Surnow, president of the Surnow Company, “may need a nudge.” Apparently, that didn’t happen.

In a March 4 email, Ahlstrom wrote: “Last evening, I sent a note to Mayor Garrett, officially withdrawing from our Letter of Understanding with the Village and the Surnow Company.  Together, we have invested significant time and money to reopen the historic Lathrup School.  In the process, I have gained a real admiration for each of you and a profound appreciation for the uniqueness and beauty of the Village. While I maintain hope that we can yet accomplish our mission, it was the appropriate time for the Endowment to walk away from the negotiating table.

“Unfortunately, we were unable to reach anything approaching a fair deal on the historic schoolhouse.  In the way of reporting, (1) The Surnow Company will not sell the schoolhouse to the Endowment at any price. (2) The Surnow Company will not do a lease/purchase agreement, at any price. Even after the Endowment offered to pay half of the multi-million-dollar cost of the renovations of a building we would then lease, the answer was ‘no.’ The only ‘deal’ which could be reached would be for the Endowment to pay the entire multi-million cost of the restoration of the schoolhouse—for the privilege of renting it!  Of course, no responsible organization, commercial or charitable, could or would agree to such terms.”

What now? Back in 2019 I got to tour the school with a group of Ferris State University senior design-studio students. On the tour, Surnow’s director of leasing and property management, Rob Krochmal, said the building was solid. But it appeared all the radiators were gone, and the remnants of school furnishings, including lockers, were still around, as if school had just been recessed for the summer. The Pewabic tile fireplace was covered over–hopefully for its protection. Later that year, the Ferris students presented four ambitious proposals for creating a city center with the school building at its heart.

The historic building’s exterior is covered under the city’s Historic District Ordinance, which in theory should protect it. But it’s become abundantly clear that the future of the building—and our city’s downtown–is in the hands of The Surnow Company.

“It is not for me to speculate on the plans Mr. Surnow et al have for the property—although I have a pretty good idea,” Ahlstrom concluded in his email.

“Allow me to speak from my heart, and not my head. If you, as alum of the school and/or residents of the Village want to ‘Save Our School,’ you will have to appeal to your City Council to save it. (They do work for you.) There are several things vis-à-vis zoning and permitting that the Village can do to save the school and restore it as the vital educational, social, and cultural center of Village life—and permanent home for the Village’s history and archives. That said, without real civic engagement now, you can expect that this glorious, signature structure will go the way of Village (Town) Hall and Lathrup Village will become just another neighborhood of Southfield.

“In writing this, I impugn no one’s motives, nor do I pretend to know what is in another’s heart. We all know that when key decisions are based on private, short-term profits rather than the long-term public good, the results are often tragic, and always irreversible.”