Skip to content
Rebuild Detroit

Popular in Metro Detroit

Call (888) 471-3135

School, Detroit, since 1965

Kettering High School

Standing, closed

A drawing of Kettering High School from its recorded size and style. No photo we may share has turned up yet.
Opened
1965
Standing
61 years

Designed by Roger Margerum and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls

Kettering High School has stood on Van Dyke Ave. in Detroit since 1965, 61 years and counting. Who built it, what makes it special and how to see it for yourself.

On the map

Kettering High School today, from the street

Kettering High School from the street today Photo: Street View, 2026

What is there now

Under renovation

  • Alteration permit Removal Of All Above Grade Building Components Per Documents. Remove top of all below grade foundation walls to 16" belo, estimated at $514,000 Source: City and county building permits
  • Demolition permit WRECK AND REMOVE per MICHIGAN BUILDING CODE - Demolish building Backfill/grade/seed restore the lot for drainage. Source: City and county building permits
  • Closed Source: Historic Detroit

We checked building permits, sales, listings and the city's blight and demolition files on October 25, 2026.

The story

By Victoria Jackson, Editor in Chief Updated

Kettering High School opened in 1965, as Detroit rebuilt its riverfront and downtown in concrete, steel and glass.

Credit the design to Roger Margerum and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls.

Its doors are closed for now, but the building still stands.

Next time you are nearby, stop at 6101 Van Dyke Ave and look up.

Timeline

  1. 1965 Built Designed by Roger Margerum and Smith, Hinchman & Grylls
  2. 2012 Closed
  3. 2024 2 building permits $514,000 in declared work, the latest November 7
  4. 2026 Today Under renovation

Where it is

6101 Van Dyke Ave.

On this map

  1. Kettering High School This place
  2. Eastown Theatre 0.2 mi
  3. M.M. Rose School 0.4 mi
  4. Stephens Elementary School 0.4 mi
  5. St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church 0.4 mi
  6. Packard Plant 0.6 mi
  7. Cathedral of St. Anthony 0.6 mi
  8. Crockett Technical School 0.7 mi
  9. Detroit Public Library (old) 0.8 mi

Street map from OpenStreetMap contributors

Who made it

Architect

Roger Margerum

American architect, 1930 to 2016. Designed Kettering High School (1965) and the Roger Margerum House

Also by Roger Margerum

Smith, Hinchman & Grylls
Photo: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Architect

Smith, Hinchman & Grylls

American architectural and engineering company, founded 1853. Designed the Penobscot Building (1928) and 68 more in Metro Detroit

Also by Smith, Hinchman & Grylls

More from Detroit in the 1960s

Around the block

Photo credits

Every photo on this page is used under its license, named here with its author and a link to the original.

  1. Kettering High School from the street today Photo: Street View, 2026

Sources

Facts only, gathered from these sources. The story above is written by Rebuild Detroit. Every photo names its author and license where it appears.