You put it very well. I was reacting to the story as it seemed to be a done deal, and at least they were planning to use the current building. I was looking at the LSJ building just yesterday, and there really is not much to it, other than a nice sandstone facade there are very few windows and it was really just an industrial space that held the printing presses with offices up front. They would really have to go some to get that building up to a high standard. Mich is right, we should be taking a closer look at this, the mayor seems to be getting even more "mouthy" in his final days saying many off the cuff things about Lansing and the area and is pushing this for some reason. The truth is that all along I would have rather seen them keep city hall where it is, remodel, and refurbish maybe floor by floor so the whole city hall would not have to move. I think relocating the police and courts elsewhere, maybe the old YMCA building, would free up space in the current City Hall. The drawings do depict how nice the building could look if they were to remodel it.
I was enthusiastic about a new City Hall but after seeing the proposals for the City Hall site and seeing the lackluster plans for a new city hall, I've completely turned against the idea. There's really no understating how disappointing it'd be to have City Hall end up in the old LSJ building, that would be embarrassing for the city. My enthusiasm for a new City Hall was predicated on an impressive replacement and a preference for the old building to be preserved, neither of those look likely with this proposal.
Maybe it would be best to move the police department and jail out of City Hall and allow the City to take over their space. They've never really been clear about space requirements for any of the entities involved in these proposed moves so it's hard to imagine what they actually need, but I'd imagine that'd give the City plenty of room. The thought of fully renovated and restored City Hall building (remaining as City Hall) is really growing on me.
The big decision then becomes where to put the police department and city jail, and that largely depends on what the County does. They have to decide whether to expand their current complex on Kalamazoo or start fresh, possibly partnering with the City's police department and possibly incorporating the county jail, courts or other operations currently in Mason. I wouldn't be surprised if the Lake Trust site is still being considered for the police dept/sheriff/courts combo and I still like that site for a new justice complex, preferably without the county jail.
I doubt this City Hall sale will go through, I certainly hope that it doesn't. I do hope that the City considers remaining in City Hall and properly restoring it. It's obvious now that a sale of the building will mean a mediocre rehashing of the current building and a shoddy new City Hall.
In yea! they repaved this street news, they finally repaved the really bad sections of Moorse River Drive by Frances Park! Just a small area was paved but it's really great to see some of these streets getting some attention. I have only been back here a couple of years and the condition of the streets has been one thing that drives me crazy, it must be such a relief to see some improvements for you guys who have had to put up with this for a lot longer than me. It would be a good goal for the new mayor to reverse the numbers from 30% good roads 70% bad roads, to 70%good 30%bad!
That's good to hear about the soccer field. I haven't been down there recently but Simken was in pretty rough shape even after they tore the worst stuff down, this should do a lot to help that out.
Beacon South is going to be great for the neighborhood and coincides nicely with what they're doing with the new public space. I've been trying to find their donation site because I want to contribute- but I still don't see it. Glad to hear that efforts are going well though.
I'm glad to see that building go. It looks like a big enough lot to actually be useful to someone so I'd hope that something gets built there sooner rather than later.
Thinking about that stretch of MLKreminds me of the 7 block area, I still wonder when we'll see anything happen there. Doesn't the property still technically revert to the city at some point?
Do you know if the city vacated that last block of Washtenaw? I'd really like to see that street reopened and the area developed as two separate blocks. I'd agree that I wouldn't expect anything very tall here but I wouldn't be completely shocked at something as tall as 10 floors being proposed though I wouldn't prefer it. More realistically I would hope for a collection of 2-6 floor buildings across the two blocks, so I guess I agree on the multiple buildings thing also. I'm just worried we'll end up with something like that three floor suburban style office building spread across two blocks.
I may be wrong! but weren't those blocks originally cleared for the Capitol Complex [is it still called that?]. It is kind of sad that these developers just sit on these properties. Back when The Hall of Justice was built, did anyone say anything about the building totally turning it's back to the west side neighborhood? I have not looked that closely but there does not even seem to be an entrance on the west side of the building. The open surface lots right in the middle of the promenade leading to the Capitol are super bad. A much smaller area could be used for parking structures that could have offices or retail on the lower street facing floors. The Historical Museum looks like a fortress. There must be hundreds of people working in those buildings, I would bet that very few of them ever crossed MLK on foot. If the buildings were better integrated into the neighborhood the area could have shops restaurants and housing for all those people working right there.
It's disappointing to hear that the city vacated Washtenaw, it seems somewhat unlikely that Eyde would reopen the street as any part of redevelopment plan. And you're right about development shifting east. Washington really does need some major developments, seeing the Knapp's properly renovated is great and it's good to see Gentilozzi planning on doing something with the Michigan Theater but there needs to be more. There's a small parking lot at Washington and Washtenaw that could fit a small building and the buildings in between the Michigan Theater and Allegan are essentially disposable and a proper high rise could fit there but beyond that there's not a room for anything major along the core part of Washington itself. Seeing Grand Ave and the cross streets get more attention would do wonders;
I'm worried that the City Hall sale is actually going to pass, I thought I read a quote somewhere saying Schor is "90% behind it". At $50 million to renovate the LSJ building this is essentially sounding like a payoff to Eyde.
I do understand the design and orientation of the Hall of Justice, and I think it is an OK building in design. A welcoming western entrance would have been nice for the local Lansing folks who may have wanted to walk there. The idea I was trying to communicate was, that building and the whole complex is not involved in the surrounding neighborhood in any way and that maybe it could be. The 70's part of the complex was designed to be defensible in reaction to the civil unrest of those days. It was meant to be above the neighborhood. The newer buildings are less defensive but the surface lots are still a barrier to any neighborhood interaction. Offices with many workers should be surrounded by all kinds of activity, at least in the daytime. I could see a shuttle bus loop running around the complex to take locals and state workers downtown and Michigan Ave., like at the airport several small buses on a short route to get people downtown and back easily and quickly. There was a good grocery store at Kalamazoo and MLK, it was always busy. I think a small grocery would do well in that area.
Comments
You put it very well. I was reacting to the story as it seemed to be a done deal, and at least they were planning to use the current building. I was looking at the LSJ building just yesterday, and there really is not much to it, other than a nice sandstone facade there are very few windows and it was really just an industrial space that held the printing presses with offices up front. They would really have to go some to get that building up to a high standard. Mich is right, we should be taking a closer look at this, the mayor seems to be getting even more "mouthy" in his final days saying many off the cuff things about Lansing and the area and is pushing this for some reason. The truth is that all along I would have rather seen them keep city hall where it is, remodel, and refurbish maybe floor by floor so the whole city hall would not have to move. I think relocating the police and courts elsewhere, maybe the old YMCA building, would free up space in the current City Hall. The drawings do depict how nice the building could look if they were to remodel it.
I was enthusiastic about a new City Hall but after seeing the proposals for the City Hall site and seeing the lackluster plans for a new city hall, I've completely turned against the idea. There's really no understating how disappointing it'd be to have City Hall end up in the old LSJ building, that would be embarrassing for the city. My enthusiasm for a new City Hall was predicated on an impressive replacement and a preference for the old building to be preserved, neither of those look likely with this proposal.
Maybe it would be best to move the police department and jail out of City Hall and allow the City to take over their space. They've never really been clear about space requirements for any of the entities involved in these proposed moves so it's hard to imagine what they actually need, but I'd imagine that'd give the City plenty of room. The thought of fully renovated and restored City Hall building (remaining as City Hall) is really growing on me.
The big decision then becomes where to put the police department and city jail, and that largely depends on what the County does. They have to decide whether to expand their current complex on Kalamazoo or start fresh, possibly partnering with the City's police department and possibly incorporating the county jail, courts or other operations currently in Mason. I wouldn't be surprised if the Lake Trust site is still being considered for the police dept/sheriff/courts combo and I still like that site for a new justice complex, preferably without the county jail.
I doubt this City Hall sale will go through, I certainly hope that it doesn't. I do hope that the City considers remaining in City Hall and properly restoring it. It's obvious now that a sale of the building will mean a mediocre rehashing of the current building and a shoddy new City Hall.
In yea! they repaved this street news, they finally repaved the really bad sections of Moorse River Drive by Frances Park! Just a small area was paved but it's really great to see some of these streets getting some attention. I have only been back here a couple of years and the condition of the streets has been one thing that drives me crazy, it must be such a relief to see some improvements for you guys who have had to put up with this for a lot longer than me. It would be a good goal for the new mayor to reverse the numbers from 30% good roads 70% bad roads, to 70%good 30%bad!
That's good to hear about the soccer field. I haven't been down there recently but Simken was in pretty rough shape even after they tore the worst stuff down, this should do a lot to help that out.
Beacon South is going to be great for the neighborhood and coincides nicely with what they're doing with the new public space. I've been trying to find their donation site because I want to contribute- but I still don't see it. Glad to hear that efforts are going well though.
I'm glad to see that building go. It looks like a big enough lot to actually be useful to someone so I'd hope that something gets built there sooner rather than later.
Thinking about that stretch of MLKreminds me of the 7 block area, I still wonder when we'll see anything happen there. Doesn't the property still technically revert to the city at some point?
Do you know if the city vacated that last block of Washtenaw? I'd really like to see that street reopened and the area developed as two separate blocks. I'd agree that I wouldn't expect anything very tall here but I wouldn't be completely shocked at something as tall as 10 floors being proposed though I wouldn't prefer it. More realistically I would hope for a collection of 2-6 floor buildings across the two blocks, so I guess I agree on the multiple buildings thing also. I'm just worried we'll end up with something like that three floor suburban style office building spread across two blocks.
I may be wrong! but weren't those blocks originally cleared for the Capitol Complex [is it still called that?]. It is kind of sad that these developers just sit on these properties. Back when The Hall of Justice was built, did anyone say anything about the building totally turning it's back to the west side neighborhood? I have not looked that closely but there does not even seem to be an entrance on the west side of the building. The open surface lots right in the middle of the promenade leading to the Capitol are super bad. A much smaller area could be used for parking structures that could have offices or retail on the lower street facing floors. The Historical Museum looks like a fortress. There must be hundreds of people working in those buildings, I would bet that very few of them ever crossed MLK on foot. If the buildings were better integrated into the neighborhood the area could have shops restaurants and housing for all those people working right there.
It's disappointing to hear that the city vacated Washtenaw, it seems somewhat unlikely that Eyde would reopen the street as any part of redevelopment plan. And you're right about development shifting east. Washington really does need some major developments, seeing the Knapp's properly renovated is great and it's good to see Gentilozzi planning on doing something with the Michigan Theater but there needs to be more. There's a small parking lot at Washington and Washtenaw that could fit a small building and the buildings in between the Michigan Theater and Allegan are essentially disposable and a proper high rise could fit there but beyond that there's not a room for anything major along the core part of Washington itself. Seeing Grand Ave and the cross streets get more attention would do wonders;
I'm worried that the City Hall sale is actually going to pass, I thought I read a quote somewhere saying Schor is "90% behind it". At $50 million to renovate the LSJ building this is essentially sounding like a payoff to Eyde.
I do understand the design and orientation of the Hall of Justice, and I think it is an OK building in design. A welcoming western entrance would have been nice for the local Lansing folks who may have wanted to walk there. The idea I was trying to communicate was, that building and the whole complex is not involved in the surrounding neighborhood in any way and that maybe it could be. The 70's part of the complex was designed to be defensible in reaction to the civil unrest of those days. It was meant to be above the neighborhood. The newer buildings are less defensive but the surface lots are still a barrier to any neighborhood interaction. Offices with many workers should be surrounded by all kinds of activity, at least in the daytime. I could see a shuttle bus loop running around the complex to take locals and state workers downtown and Michigan Ave., like at the airport several small buses on a short route to get people downtown and back easily and quickly. There was a good grocery store at Kalamazoo and MLK, it was always busy. I think a small grocery would do well in that area.