Development project of Malcolm X’s former school to bring community center to southwest Lansing

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - An elementary school in Lansing once attended by civil rights leader Malcolm X may soon have a new life.

Developers want to turn the former Pleasant Grove Elementary School into a community center. The goal is to service the needs of the surrounding neighborhoods in the area by bringing legal counseling, mental health and equity services.

“We’re not limiting this to just southwest Lansing,” said Christopher Stralkowski, with Ferguson Development. “We’re looking at this as sort of a focal point when it comes to meeting someone where they are and trying to connect them with the needs and wants of the people that come through the door.”

It’s no secret that available resources are usually the missing ingredients in many communities across Michigan. Lansing is changing that narrative.

Residents in the area made their wants and needs clear -- and their voices were heard.

“This project was sort of birthed from a 2016 survey of southwest Lansing,” Stralkowski said. “So the residents in southwest Lansing were given an opportunity to answer questions on a survey that talked about their wants and needs.”

The former kindergarten home of Malcolm X will be embracing his legacy -- not only his time in Lansing, but his footprint across the United States.

More: Community news

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