The Main Building in 1944.
Did you know that Grand Rapids Junior College had been in existence for 57 years before it built its first new building (the North Building, now known as the Cook Building)? Before 1971, the college campus consisted of two hand-me-down facilities from the Grand Rapids Public Schools—the former Central High School (the East Building) and the Davis Technical High School (the Main Building). A third building, known as the West Building, an empty Lear-Siegler factory on Division Avenue, was purchased by the college in 1963 and renovated as a classroom building. It is now the Kendall School of Art and Design.
Read about this and much more in Open Door, the newly published 100 year history of GRJC/GRCC. The book can be purchased at Schuler Books, the GRCC Library, or online here.
Tonight: The Grand Rapids Historical Society will host a presentation by Mike Klawitter and Walter Lockwood on “Open Door: The 100-Year History of Grand Rapids Junior College/Community College at 7 p.m. at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 303 Pearl St. NW.
To learn more about tonight’s presentation, click here or visit the society’s Facebook page here. To read a review of Open Door by society member Tom Dilley, click here.
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