Detroit workers benefiting from DPS construction boom
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By Scott Brewer, myFOXDetroit.com -
DETROIT, Mich. (WJBK) -
The Detroit Public Schools District is busy renovating and building 18 different schools this summer and those projects are helping to put a surprising number of Detroiters back to work.
The East Village High School is under construction and is scheduled to open this fall on the site of the former Finney High School. This project and the others are part of a building boom involving the state's largest school district.
The new $50 million Mumford High School is scheduled to open in the fall and the new Martin Luther King Jr. Senior High opened last fall.
All this construction means jobs, lots of jobs. According to Detroit Public School Emergency Manager Roy Roberts, the number of jobs going to local workers is thousands more than was initially projected.
"We've got great companies in Detroit, we've got great people who want to work and there is a great need to work here" Roberts said.
The $500 million bond proposal approved by voters several years ago earmarked new and renovated schools, generating jobs at a record pace.
Detroit-based companies and residents benefited the most. Some 60-percent of the projects went to Detroit contractors and about 50-percent of the jobs went to Detroiters.
According to Roberts, "You could say it's made by Detroiters, for Detroiters, in Detroit. It's a joy."
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