Roeper Domes in Bloomfield Featured as Modern Michigan Marvel

 

The Roeper School's famed Martin Luther King Jr. domes in Bloomfield Hills were the focus of a recent feature on the Michigan Modern website.

The site, a project of the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, showcased the history and current uses of the buildings, which are a Bloomfield Hills landmark along northbound Woodward Avenue. 

Constructed in 1969 by Glen Paulsen, of Caudill-Rowlett & Scott, the facility consists of two large domes of about 67 feet in diameter, and six smaller ones that are all connected on the north end of the school campus. The large domes currently house a library and multi-purpose room, and the smaller satellite domes are used as classrooms, Michigan Modern reported. 

The feature prompted some personal and emotional responses from Roeper parents and alumni online. 

"I loved playing in the Trojan Horse & listening to Pam Doyle read to us in the domes. So many more fond memories of Roeper," wrote Susan K Jecevicus on the Roeper Facebook page.

"Fond memories: little ones visiting for the first time discovering the foot controlled sinks, students curled up on couches tucked into the slopes of classroom domes their tousled hair highlighted and framed by the light behind them, teachers quietly reading to their children at the end of what had been a boisterous and busy day," wrote Lorene Porter.

Do you have memories of the Roeper domes? Share your thoughts about this unique piece of Bloomfield's scenery in the comments section.