Libraries are a crucial component of a civil society. They can be the social,
cultural, and educational anchor of smaller communities. So it’s no wonder that Highland Park residents chose the renovation and reopening of its unique library as a statement that theirs is a community of high value and commitment to one another.

When Highland Park’s population ballooned from 400 to 48,000 in the early
20th century due to the construction of Henry Ford’s first plant in the area, there was a need for a public library to reflect the city’s new wealth and aspirations. In 1918, Katherine and Tracey McGregor donated a remarkable building and the surrounding land. Formerly the home of a local businessman, Captain William Stevens, the building had been converted to a home for “homeless, crippled, and backward children” by Katherine Whitney McGregor in 1903. When she later donated it to become the new public library, she stipulated that it had to be more imposing and beautiful than the Utley, the nearest branch of the Detroit Public Library. While most public libraries of the time were the product of philanthropy, it was the voters of Highland Park who passed a $500,000 bond issue to construct their new library.

With such financial and public support, the unique and beautiful public
library edifice was designed and built in the classic Beaux Arts style, and included a 250-seat auditorium, meeting rooms, and two kitchens. It was dedicated on March 5, 1926, and received the AIA’s Gold Medal for Architectural Merit in that same year. The library proved to be a centerpiece for the community until hard times in the auto industry caused Highland Park to suffer job losses, depopulation, and depletion of tax resources. The library was forced to close in 2002.

In 2006, Cities of Promise began to focus resources on the McGregor Library,
with the goal of providing the city of Highland Park with a beautiful symbol of its power to reinvent itself. The effort to restore the library was led by local supporters and the Michigan Department of History, Arts and Libraries, as well as the Department of Management and Budget and the Michigan Department of Transportation. In that first year, MSHDA provided the city with a use study of the McGregor Library, providing insight on needs, uses, and potential funding models. MSHDA provided the city with a grant to help hire a consultant for leveraging the sustainable funds necessary for the project. The many Cities of Promise partners at the local level and state agencies are making it possible to reopen the McGregor Library in 2009, a symbol of Highland Park’s recovery and promising future.