I just passed the former Bingham Elementary across from Sparrow Hospital, and they are well into the demolition. I had forgotten that they couldn't save this one. Hopefully, Sparrow gets the land and buildings some multi-family, multi-story residential on it, or a small hotel. I honestly can't imagine the land staying vacant for long, and what I do hope is that they don't turn it into another parking lot.
Anyone see the Davenport beacon atop their new headquarters on Allegan? It really sticks out (in a good way), sort of like a lighthouse, and it can be seen from quite a few angles of the skyline.
In other news, it seems as if the talks between CATA and Eatran for CATA to further expand into Eaton County have stalled...which was news to me, as I had no idea the talks were actually still ongoing.
Talks between the region’s two largest public transportation agencies to expand service in Delta Township have stalled.
The Eaton County Transportation Authority board rejected a proposal for a cooperative service agreement with Lansing’s Capital Area Transportation Authority because CATA wasn’t willing to negotiate details of the agreement, EATRAN General Manager Donna Webb said. Its board voted 5-2 earlier this month to discontinue negotiations.
“CATA said they had come with a final proposal from their board, and they said they would not take back anything different,” Webb said. “Their proposal put EATRAN in the red, and our board decided there were other options that did not do that.”
CATA and EATRAN were discussing ways to link the two agencies’ routes by connecting the Marketplace complex near Saginaw Highway and the Interstate-96/I-69 interchange in Delta Township to the current ending point for CATA service at the Lansing Mall. The deal would allow passengers of either agency to make longer trips across the region by transferring to the other agency’s bus in Delta Township.
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This is really unforunate. Eatran is a dial-a-ride with a few limited routes throughout Eaton County, and outside of that unreliable service, CATA is only allowed one route into this township of 30,000 people, and that's a route to the mall, and along Willow Street, no less, because Eatran gets a monopoly on Saginaw Highway.
In my vision, we'd get a regional transit authority like Southeast Michigan that would include Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties. It makes absolutely no sense for CATA to be confined to Ingham County when Lansing quite literally extends (both the the urban area and city limits) into the other two counties. Places like Delta, DeWitt and Bath Townships need WAY more mass transit service then they currently get.
CATA says they want to continue the talks, so I guess there is still hope. But, only if Eatran comes back to the table. Realistically, there should be express bus service (or even BRT) down Saginaw between downtown Lansing and Marketplace.
Things have been pretty painfully quiet on the downtown front in terms of new major develop in the last year or so. And, really, this isn't huge news, but a company is moving downtown from West Saint Joseph Street, though, I'm not sure where they were on St. Joseph, so this may just be musical chairs if it turns out this was St. Joe downtown. lol
Written by Lindsay VanHulle | Lansing State Journal
August 15, 2013
LANSING — Public Sector Consultants has moved its headquarters to downtown Lansing.
The public policy consulting firm relocated this week to 230 N. Washington Square after nearly 20 years just west of downtown on St. Joseph Street. It now leases the third floor of the downtown building near the corner of Ionia Street.
The three-story, 40,000-square-foot building formerly was home to the Michigan Dental Association, which moved to Okemos in 2009.
...
PSC opted to move in part because it needed more space for growth, Tucker said, adding that the firm hires, on average, two new employees each year and now employs between 35 and 40. Revenue is up, he said, although figures were not immediately available.
I recently heard that the State Police may move to secondary complex and sell their new building on Grand, possibly to the Feds. Apparently it's part of a plan that includes the construction of a new emergency operations center at secondary complex, where the state police would take over the General Office Building. I'm not sure how serious the plans are except that the new emergency operations center is already under construction or will be soon.
It looks like the South Lansing Pathway is going to move foward. This will be a 3.5 mile non-motorized pathway along the Consumers Energy ROW beneath the high-tension power line corridor south of Jolly. It will, for now, stretch between Waverly in the westside and Pennsylvania on the eastside. From Pennsylvania, a seperate 1.9 mile project will street a path northward to Cavanaugh, though, I'm not exactly sure if how this will be done (i.e. on-street, extension of the sidewalk...).
I'm really glad to see a major pathway that's not directly part of the Rivertrail. I'm sure there are some other potential locations along old railroad lines and what not that could provide similar opportunities. This seemed to come out of nowhere, had you heard anything about this before recently?
Comments
This is some SiFi stuff going on. lol
Al Goldis | Lansing State Journal
It's actually going to be connected to (and can be accessed from within) the mall. If anyone finds any renderings, please post them.
This is really unforunate. Eatran is a dial-a-ride with a few limited routes throughout Eaton County, and outside of that unreliable service, CATA is only allowed one route into this township of 30,000 people, and that's a route to the mall, and along Willow Street, no less, because Eatran gets a monopoly on Saginaw Highway.
In my vision, we'd get a regional transit authority like Southeast Michigan that would include Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties. It makes absolutely no sense for CATA to be confined to Ingham County when Lansing quite literally extends (both the the urban area and city limits) into the other two counties. Places like Delta, DeWitt and Bath Townships need WAY more mass transit service then they currently get.
CATA says they want to continue the talks, so I guess there is still hope. But, only if Eatran comes back to the table. Realistically, there should be express bus service (or even BRT) down Saginaw between downtown Lansing and Marketplace.