Today the fronts are off of Kelly's and the storefront next to Decker's and people are moving stuff into the new place. It looks like Kelly's is finally moving.
I was by there on my bike, just a hour or two ago. I almost stoped and ask the guys working how far along they were. lol
BTW, I noticed that the Old Town had finally installed their children's play-area, today. It's of pretty high quality and is located south of the damn in the grass openspace. Oh, and it was busy as heck when I passed. It just shows the need and demand for more user-friendly parks, and particularly for growing places like Old Town.
Speaking of using parks underutilized parks, the ampitheater is Riverfront Park, which had been neglected for years and rarely used, seems to be holding events of all kinds just about every week this summer and drawing crowds.
MIchael Patrick Shiels
For the Lansing State Journal
Most great cities have rivers, but Lansing's river is grand, according to Pat Gillespie. And he'd like to give residents and tourists the grand tour.
Gillespie, the creative visionary who heads up the Gillespie Group, headed to the shoreline of the Grand River last week and climbed aboard a deck boat he'd chartered to show off Lansing by sea.
Gillespie's new idea? To create waterway and dinner cruises through the heart of Lansing. This exploratory evening sailing showed off the scenic, wooded views near the Potter Park Zoo; striking, urban scenes such as the Accident Fund building rising above the river; and culminated by going ashore in Old Town for some chic nightlife.
That would be really cool if we could get dinner time cruises on the Grand River. I often take people down to the Brenke Fish Ladder to show them places they had never heard of before in Lansing. There are so many things to see if you take the extra step and look around.
I really think if the River Trail and linear parks along the river were given some kind of cohesive theme (i.e. specific historic lighting, banners, colors...) that you could tie it all together and get a good, cohesive district going. I mean, there isn't any reason why Old Town, downtown, and REO Town shouldn't be tied together more visibly.
The problem with the River Trail and linear parks, at least through downtown, is that you can be on it and not even realize your in a fairly sizeable city's downtown/city center. There needs to be a lot more effects, and sights, and things to do along the way.
Melissa Domsic • mdomsic@lsj.com • September 1, 2009 • From Lansing State Journal
MERIDIAN TWP. - The Michigan Dental Association is settling into a new headquarters after about 40 years in downtown Lansing.
The nonprofit association and its for-profit insurance and service subsidiary's 50 employees have moved into a $4.2 million building at 3657 Okemos Road in Meridian Township.
The Lansing office closed Friday as staff moved out of the 40,000 square-foot building at 230 N. Washington Square in Lansing. They plan to open the new two-story, 26,500 square-foot building by today, said Drew Eason, the association's executive director.
The council agenda is quite packed with development-related issues, next Monday:
- An IFT (Industrial Facilities Tax) Exemption cerfitifcate is being requested by Demmer for it's facility on Oakland just east of downtown.
- JNL (Jackson National Life) is requesting a New Personal Property exemption for the data center they are proposing for 2005 Seager St, which is a warehouse just north of where North Street and Grand River Street join near Old Town. They are also requesting the site be considered a brownfield.
- A Moebius Technologies (got to look up what they do) is requesting a Business Financing Assistance Program Loan for a facility located at 2127 West Willow, which I assume must be at the city border near where DeLuca's is. Unrelated, but also in the 2000's of West Willow is a religious urgent care center requesting the same loan.
- It appears that the redevelopers of the Old Temple Club are also requesting a slew of abatements and designations, this week (OPRA's & Brownfields).
- Finally, there is something interesting that I never heard about, but is still ambiguous in the agenda, about the platting of a McCrackin Subdivision in the southwest quarter of Section 5 of the City of Lansing. And old map I have shows that the southwest corner of Section 5 (all these legal designations do with the fact that Lansing organized as a township like just about everywhere else save Detroit) would lie in the general vicinity of Tecumseh Park in northwest Lansing. What side of the river they are talking about, though, I wouldn't no. And no detail is given besides the fact that they had to get the state involved for some reason.
I'm also glad to hear the city and land bank so staunchly behind maximizing the potential of the site by putting it out there before anyone even bites that they want a residential high-rise. The motel usage was a terrible underutilization of the property, and a residential high-rise would actually fit in better with the character of the neighborhood (Washington Apartments & Fountain Place).
Comments
BTW, I noticed that the Old Town had finally installed their children's play-area, today. It's of pretty high quality and is located south of the damn in the grass openspace. Oh, and it was busy as heck when I passed. It just shows the need and demand for more user-friendly parks, and particularly for growing places like Old Town.
Speaking of using parks underutilized parks, the ampitheater is Riverfront Park, which had been neglected for years and rarely used, seems to be holding events of all kinds just about every week this summer and drawing crowds.
The problem with the River Trail and linear parks, at least through downtown, is that you can be on it and not even realize your in a fairly sizeable city's downtown/city center. There needs to be a lot more effects, and sights, and things to do along the way.
Meh:
Some guys were actually out working on this when I passed doing some brick/stonework and general touchups. They were really loud, too.
- An IFT (Industrial Facilities Tax) Exemption cerfitifcate is being requested by Demmer for it's facility on Oakland just east of downtown.
- JNL (Jackson National Life) is requesting a New Personal Property exemption for the data center they are proposing for 2005 Seager St, which is a warehouse just north of where North Street and Grand River Street join near Old Town. They are also requesting the site be considered a brownfield.
- A Moebius Technologies (got to look up what they do) is requesting a Business Financing Assistance Program Loan for a facility located at 2127 West Willow, which I assume must be at the city border near where DeLuca's is. Unrelated, but also in the 2000's of West Willow is a religious urgent care center requesting the same loan.
- It appears that the redevelopers of the Old Temple Club are also requesting a slew of abatements and designations, this week (OPRA's & Brownfields).
- Finally, there is something interesting that I never heard about, but is still ambiguous in the agenda, about the platting of a McCrackin Subdivision in the southwest quarter of Section 5 of the City of Lansing. And old map I have shows that the southwest corner of Section 5 (all these legal designations do with the fact that Lansing organized as a township like just about everywhere else save Detroit) would lie in the general vicinity of Tecumseh Park in northwest Lansing. What side of the river they are talking about, though, I wouldn't no. And no detail is given besides the fact that they had to get the state involved for some reason.
I'm also glad to hear the city and land bank so staunchly behind maximizing the potential of the site by putting it out there before anyone even bites that they want a residential high-rise. The motel usage was a terrible underutilization of the property, and a residential high-rise would actually fit in better with the character of the neighborhood (Washington Apartments & Fountain Place).