Ann Zaniewski, Keith Matheny and Perry Farrell

Detroit Free Press

Officials from Olympia Development are eyeing the football field at Cass Tech High School and have proposed potentially building the team a new athletic facility elsewhere in the city, according to the school's alumni association.

Olympia wants to acquire the field, along with the site of the old Cass Tech building, said Ray Litt, vice president of the Cass Tech Alumni Association.

Discussions around a potential deal involving the land began a few months ago and involve the alumni association, a residents group and a representative for the Detroit Public Schools Community District, Litt said.

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A formal proposal has not been presented to Superintendent Nikolai Vitti. The school board would need to sign off on any final plans.

Doug Kuiper, a spokesman for Ilitch Holdings, and Ed Saenz, a spokesman for Olympia Development, did not return messages seeking comment.

The football field is about three blocks from Little Caesars Arena where the Detroit Red Wings and Pistons will play starting this fall.

Litt said Olympia officials approached a neighborhood activities committee and the alumni association a few months ago. Olympia wants to work jointly with alumni and residents in developing a plan, he said.

"We will agree on a proposal to present to the school district," Litt said.

Litt said that as far as building a new athletic facility, "That has been talked about, (but) there is no commitment."

The alumni association also has its own idea for how the land should be used, Litt said. He declined to elaborate.

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In 2011, the roughly 90-year old Cass Tech High building was demolished, after sitting vacant for many years. The newer, modern building was opened nearby in 2005, and features a state-of-the-art theater and professional-grade sound studio, a gift from Adidas and Cass Tech alum and rapper Big Sean.

Despite being home to one of the state's football powerhouses, Cass Tech's football field leaves something to be desired. The field has no running track around it, Litt said. And because Cass Tech’s football field is grass instead of an artificial surface like many schools have, daily practice there is not recommended. The team practices on a field more than a mile away.

"In the end, what's the final decision going to be? When we see their final proposal, there may be reluctant acceptance of it," Litt said. "There may be a lot of hooting and hollering against it, but in the end, Detroit Public School system is going to be the one that makes the decision because they own the property that’s in contention."

Vitti, who joined the district in late May, told the Free Press on Monday that he doesn't know details of the proposal, or who from the district might be involved in discussions around it.

"At this point, we’ve only heard rumors that there has been conversation with the alumni, but at this point, there’s been no official proposal submitted to the district," he said. "Any decision would have to be approved, vetted by myself and the school board."

Vitti said no one from Olympia has reached out to him directly.

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In an e-mail he sent to school board members over the weekend, Vitti wrote, in part:

"Please be advised that several media outlets have continued to ask about rumors of ‎the district selling property near Cass Tech to Olympia. District staff followed up with the principal ... who indicated that the company engaged the alumni association about this proposal, which apparently included the sale of property in return for the development of an Athletic Field House.

"Outside of these rumors, I did not have knowledge of this proposal."

Board member LaMar Lemmons questioned why Olympia reached out to alumni but not the school board.

"I find it insulting that they would try to circumvent the process and not go through the proper channels, with which I am sure they are familiar," he said.

When asked about the proposal, Cass Tech head football coach Thomas Wilcher told the Free Press: "I don't know anything. Some people came up to the school a while ago and asked about the culture of the school."

Michele Peterson, a 1986 Cass Tech grad, said she learned about the possible deal last week from one of her classmates. She said she is surprised the alumni association has not told its members about it.

"I don't know why there would be this secrecy," she said.

The Ilitch family's Olympia Development, the company developing the Red Wings' new Little Caesars Arena, already owns land in the area that once belonged to the school district. In late December, the school district's then-emergency manager, Steven Rhodes, told the Free Press that Olympia Development had purchased 14 small parcels in the Cass Tech neighborhood from the district for $3 million.

The district provided the contract to the Free Press in response to a Freedom of Information Act request. It lists the purchaser as "2445 Cass, LLC." The deal involved one property on Henry Street, five on Fourth Street, seven on Third Avenue and one on Cass Avenue.

The contract was signed on Dec. 13, 2016.

Rhodes said Monday that Cass Tech's football field was not part of the discussions around the sale of the parcels.

Contact Ann Zaniewski: 313-222-6594 or azaniewski@freepress.com. Staff writer Lori Higgins contributed to this report.