Inside the Abandoned Municipal Court Building: Highland Park, Michigan

WARNING: Under no circumstances should you enter this property. By doing so you risk bodily harm and/or prosecution for trespassing on private property. 

Taking a look inside the deserted Municipal Court Building in Highland Park is somewhat of an eye-opener.

The structure sits on Gerald Street, which at the time was listed as “28-30 Gerald” when it opened for business in 1927. Sitting right near Woodward Avenue, the court building was just one of the structures in the area that showed-off the wealthy side of Highland Park in the early part of the 1900s. In the 2000s, the neighborhood is run down with many empty buildings, tattered and torn – a far cry from its original intent.

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For a couple of years, from 1999 to 2001, it was also home to the police department. Since then it has degenerated thanks to a lack of use. In 2001 the building was abandoned when the state took over the city operations. There is still hope to redevelop the structure, and the city is hoping it can be listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Highland Park's fire department was right next door, beginning in 1911 at 20 Gerald Street. Residents of Highland Park began vacating, searching for work and life elsewhere. By 2005, the department building was declared “uninhabitable” and it packed up and moved to an old warehouse on Oakland Park Boulevard. The old fire department has been torn down.

But back to the old Municipal Court Building... the gallery below takes you inside this once-majestic complex with its formerly impressive circular staircases, now just crumbling like stale crackers.....along with everything else.

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