DETROIT - The city's collection of high schools offers an under-appreciated stock of buildings built pre-Depression, that are often islands of architectural class in some areas that have seen better days.

Cooley High School is a great example. Built in 1927, the building's exterior is clad in ornate brick and terra cotta the likes of which are rarely seen in new construction. But when it comes time to fix the old work - and that's the case this summer at Cooley - union masons are making sure the architectural features at the top of the school appear and perform like they did 80 years ago.

Masonry renovation contractor Chezcore and Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1 masons are on the job at Cooley, repairing and replacing exterior terra cotta and brick on the school's two signature towers. The towers have been leaking, letting rainwater drain into stairwells at the school. Work started in March and is expected to continue into the fall.

"The towers have been neglected for years," said Chezcore Foreman Darryl Green of BAC Local 1. "We're removing and replacing the terra cotta and brick as needed, installing new flashing, and putting everything back into place so that it work and look like it did originally. The new terra cotta won't match perfectly - it's very difficult to get a good match. But it will look fine."

Terra cotta is a hard, fired-clay building material used in ornamental architecture.

John Williams, an engineer at the school, said there was debate on the Detroit Board of Education whether to simply demolish the leaky towers instead of spending the half-million dollars to perform the repairs. "They talked about it, but a lot of what's on the roof is art work, and it's historic, and they decided it's worth saving," he said.

Chezcore is repairing the two towers and the masonry on the parapet wall between them on the front of the building. Green said the incursion of water resulted serious deterioration of support timbers inside the towers, and they will be replaced. The copper that tops the domes will also be repaired and replaced as needed. The masonry around a clock in front of the school will also be tuck-pointed and repaired.

The towers don't have any function besides being ornamental - which makes saving them an agreeable option in our budget-cutting era. "I figured there would be a bell or something inside, but there's nothing (except pigeons)," Green said. "But they look nice, it's great that they decided to keep them. The cost of building these today would be astronomical."

TUCKPOINTING brick in one of the Cooley High School towers is Foreman Darryl Green of BAC Local 1 and Chezcore.

THE TERRA COTTA used on the exterior of Cooley High School is rarely used in construction today because of the high cost. The towers on the front of building, which was built in 1927, have no purpose other than being ornamental.