Jalen Rose spent the weekend working the fairways at his academy’s celebrity golf classic, pitching a double-barreled plan for his hometown: a multi-million dollar expansion of the tuition-free Jalen Rose Leadership Academy and a slate of Detroit-centered media projects. The Detroit native told supporters he wants to move JRLA’s high school into a donated former hospital and launch a middle-school program through a capital campaign. He is also tying that effort to his new Tubi drama, which he says lifts up Detroit voices while drawing attention and potential donors back to the city.
Old Kingswood Hospital Set To Become JRLA’s New Home
Henry Ford Health donated the 70,000-square-foot former Kingswood Hospital in Royal Oak Township to JRLA, and the academy plans to retrofit the building into classroom space, according to ClickOnDetroit. School officials say construction is expected to begin later this year, with students slated to move into the renovated site for the 2027 school year. The donated facility sits roughly two miles from JRLA’s current northwest Detroit campus and offers room for a larger high-school population along with added programming.
Capital Campaign Numbers Still Taking Shape
At the charity weekend, Rose said the retrofit will require a multi-million dollar fundraising push, and the Detroit Free Press reported he hopes to raise about $25 million to complete the conversion and expand programming. The Free Press also described plans to open a middle school in JRLA’s current building once the high school moves into the donated site. Other coverage has cited a roughly $20 million capital campaign figure, per CBS News Detroit, underscoring that the exact targets and timelines are still being worked out.
TV Drama Gives JRLA A Bigger Spotlight
Rose also rolled out a Detroit-set drama, "South West High," on Tubi in February 2026 as his Same Page Entertainment company moves into scripted television, according to Sporting News. In the series, Rose plays Nolan Thomas, a former pro who returns to run his old school, and the Free Press reports he "made regular appearances on the show this past season as a fill-in" while noting a second season is already in development. Rose has framed the show as part of a broader play to spotlight Detroit stories and channel some of that attention back into JRLA’s fundraising push.
Star Power Packs JRLA’s Golf Classic
The 16th annual JRLA Celebrity Golf Classic took over TPC Michigan in Dearborn yesterday, according to an event listing at UpcomingEvents. JRLA’s own event materials show a long-running roster of big-name guests, including Calvin Johnson, Joique Bell, Thomas Hearns, Steve Smith and Terry Mills, whose appearances help pump up ticket sales and auction bids for the capital campaign.
Why The Campus Move Is A Big Deal For Detroit Charters
JRLA is an open-enrollment, tuition-free public charter school that its website says serves hundreds of Detroit scholars and posts strong graduation and college-acceptance results. The academy’s fundraising materials note that "charter schools do not receive funding to purchase, lease, or improve facilities," which leaves many charters leaning on private philanthropy to secure and upgrade buildings. That structural funding gap is a big reason the donated hospital and the high-profile golf weekend sit at the heart of JRLA’s plan to grow enrollment and programming.
Organizers say the coming months will focus on landing private donations and corporate partners to move the capital plan from concept to construction. For now, Rose is treating the new campus and the TV show as two sides of the same strategy: keeping students and cultural opportunity in Detroit while building the donor base to sustain it.
