(WXYZ) — A judge in Oakland County ordered the West Bloomfield School District to stop plans to demolish the historic Roosevelt Elementary School.
The tear-down of the 104-year-old school was set to begin next month after the school board voted to demolish the building earlier this week.
Watch our report below from the school board vote:
On Wednesday, a lawyer for the Heart of Lakes filed the motion just afters after the board voted. The attorney alleges the school district violated the Open Meetings Act by conducting secret deliberations outside of public view in a concerted effort to destroy the school.
Judge Phyllis McMillen issued a temporary restraining order Friday and and set a hearing next week for both the district and Heart of the Lakes to appear in court.
"The court finds there is no adequate remedy at law and there is a real and imminent danger of irreparable injury in the absence of a restraining order," McMillen wrote.
There's been a lot of passion about keeping this building. The community has been fighting for months to keep it standing.
“We were screaming with joy and just tears, this is verification that we are on the right track," said Keego Harbor resident David Emerling.
Video below: Keego Harbor community members continue to protest demolition of Roosevelt Elementary School
One of the most popular repurposing proposals for the board came from architect Joseph Notisky, who offered to buy the building for $1.7 million and turn it into apartments.
"Think about that one just for a minute. Each classroom is a perfectly sized apartment. It makes a wonderful apartment for somebody," he said. "The reality is we're short on students, but also affordable homes. If we keep this building up and keep it temporarily, we think the students are going to repopulate this building with public school attendance once again."
The district's response is that the school building is not safe, and even after being offered millions for it, it's financially irresponsible to repurpose it.
After hearing hours of pleas from community members, the board voted 4-2 to move ahead with the demolition.
The district says they will begin preparing the property for demolition next month and it's scheduled to be demolished in June.
“It’s an anchor of our town, this is the first West Bloomfield High School, you would think they would want to honor that," said Emerling.
