There must be lots of people who like the "idea" of the City Market but did not shop there. I can not really understand why anyone would have an emotional attachment to that building, it always made me sad to go in there seeing how empty it had become. I hope the Mayor has something in the works for that area.
I think they could use the steel structure as a base for a Fancy Barn, maybe take ideas from the best Michigan barns or [I know they would never do this] add a bit of fantasy like a storybook design, or even take a look at some of the historic fancy buildings that were near or in this neighborhood and incorporate parts of their design, breweries and sugar beet factories that looked like castles. Or just look in Mexico every town has a big market with the permanent business selling everything prepared food, fresh food, produce all under what is basically a roof. The stalls create the interesting environment, not the building.
I often think about what they could do with the S.Gand Ave parking ramp as it has such a great location on the river. Use it a base for an apartment or hotel building, have a full-time food-court and year-round greenmarket[like Horrocks] the opens on to the riverside with seasonal farmers markets set up on the redesigned ground floor with stalls that face the street. Awnings and nice looking overhead doors for the stalls that would look good even when the Farmers Market area is closed, the farmers could access the stalls from the back inside the ramp. The ever important parking could be above. Offer free parking!
My other "great idea" would use the Michigan Ave train station as the food court core of a city market that opens around the station.
Wow, I love this idea. It would be centrally located along the busiest bus route, and the huge focus on that corridor should give it more momentum. A historic building will satisfy all the people who hate new things, and there’s plenty of space to build some open air sheds (a la Eastern Market) branching out to the north and south of the building. Having a facade like this, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Market,_Detroit#/media/File:EasternMarketShed2_summer2014.jpg (probably a bit smaller) along Michigan Ave would be amazing.
There’s plenty of parking with the street parking along Pere Marquette, the parking lot and open space north of the property, and the massive lots to the east.
This is my favorite city market idea yet. Definitely suggest this to the mayor.
Wrote Andy today! I also suggested using the steel frame of the barn to support glass walls and create a Winter Garden/Butterfly House. This would return the area to parkland and be a beautiful attraction for tourist and locals. I think the developer who knocked down the old market and the BWL could cooperate on such a project.
I like the idea for turning the current City Market building into a wintergarden, especially if it could be expanded a little. It's worth noting that a group at MSU has been trying for years to build a domed winter garden near Abram's Planetarium: Student Greenhouse Project. I''d always hoped to see it actually get built but it looks like they're still a long ways from funding it.
As for City Market, I have my own vision of what I think it should be so bear with me as I disagree a little. To start with I just don't think the Clara's site is really large enough for what City Market should be. There's also no reason to place City Market right in one of the fastest up-and-coming areas of the city, City Market is a draw itself and could be used to anchor an area that needs a boost. My two favorite locations are unlikely to be available to the city, especially at a reasonable cost; The old Atlas Forge/Atmosphere Annealing building on Mt Hope & the RR tracks and the Demmer site on Oakland/Ballard would make excellent sites for an expanded City Market with room around them for complementary businesses and new developments.
That being said, I've recently thought that the BWL facility at Pennsylvania and Hazel might be the most realistic path to a far better and bigger market. The site has plenty of space for a market vastly expanded in scope, which I think is key to its success. (I think I've given this spiel before...) I think there should be space for long-term, seasonal, short-term and even daily vendors; this should include a good amount of outdoor/greenhouse space for the plant/flower vendors that seem to be an attraction for public markets. There should also be a market run "general store" of sorts which would provide basics (e.g. milk, pop, toiletries...) to ensure people could depend on the market as a shopping destination. The addition of a flea market/swap meet would be a great way to boost traffic, it could even be in it's own building at BWL's site. I've seen Eastern Market featured on a program where they talk about its wholesale market that links up farmers, stores, restaurants and wholesalers; I think that would be a great thing to try to replicate at Lansing's market. Lastly, a new market would ideally have room for events, such as things on the scale of the festivals held in Old Town and REO Town.
The BWL site should have room for all those things plus more while having plenty of room for parking. It's not in the most desirable location but it's in the core of the city, on the river with access to the River Trail and has good freeway access. The bigger key might be that it's publicly owned, if BWL doesn't give the land to the city it would certainly sell it cheap and the buildings wouldn't need a ton of modifications to function as a market. This seems like a very realistic way to get much bigger and better market for not a lot of money.
I like both ideas; there are definitely many good potential locations for various reasons. I think in particular the BWL, which will soon be empty, is a nice option simply because of the additional space, parking and river trail access. The only dilemma is how much of it is in the floodplain? Parking and out door vendor space could easily be located in those areas assuming the building itself isn't. I especially like the idea of maintaining a location along the river; I loved being able to ride my bike along the river trail and stop at the market to pick a few things up. While I like the idea of it at the old Clara's site it is definitely not hospitable to non vehicles.
@hood the Atlas Forge building- is that the one on Mt. Hope and Washington? If so, that's the site that I think is ideal for a city market. I'll copy and paste my comments from elsewhere:
There's a large warehouse facility that I think is owned by QD on the corner of Washington and Mt. Hope. I think this is a great place for a new market, with the potential to become Lansing's answer to Detroit's Eastern Market. This location sits at the southern entrance of REO town, so it's relatively easy to capture tourist travelers from the north and it links REO to the residential neighborhoods of the south side.
It's the perfect balance of providing fresh and artisan food to neighboring areas, and having a tourist area to draw those from surrounding areas. Tons of indoor space, a nice industrial feel that fits the city, ample parking in the area, and close to an emerging district. It seems so perfect to me and would be very similar to Eastern Market.
Comments
There must be lots of people who like the "idea" of the City Market but did not shop there. I can not really understand why anyone would have an emotional attachment to that building, it always made me sad to go in there seeing how empty it had become. I hope the Mayor has something in the works for that area.
I think they could use the steel structure as a base for a Fancy Barn, maybe take ideas from the best Michigan barns or [I know they would never do this] add a bit of fantasy like a storybook design, or even take a look at some of the historic fancy buildings that were near or in this neighborhood and incorporate parts of their design, breweries and sugar beet factories that looked like castles. Or just look in Mexico every town has a big market with the permanent business selling everything prepared food, fresh food, produce all under what is basically a roof. The stalls create the interesting environment, not the building.
I often think about what they could do with the S.Gand Ave parking ramp as it has such a great location on the river. Use it a base for an apartment or hotel building, have a full-time food-court and year-round greenmarket[like Horrocks] the opens on to the riverside with seasonal farmers markets set up on the redesigned ground floor with stalls that face the street. Awnings and nice looking overhead doors for the stalls that would look good even when the Farmers Market area is closed, the farmers could access the stalls from the back inside the ramp. The ever important parking could be above. Offer free parking!
My other "great idea" would use the Michigan Ave train station as the food court core of a city market that opens around the station.
Thank you I will write to the Mayor, I was just brainstorming about the City Market thinking about a building that in its self would be a good draw.
There’s plenty of parking with the street parking along Pere Marquette, the parking lot and open space north of the property, and the massive lots to the east.
This is my favorite city market idea yet. Definitely suggest this to the mayor.
Wrote Andy today! I also suggested using the steel frame of the barn to support glass walls and create a Winter Garden/Butterfly House. This would return the area to parkland and be a beautiful attraction for tourist and locals. I think the developer who knocked down the old market and the BWL could cooperate on such a project.
Yes, these are great ideas! Thanks for sharing them
Oh, Thank you! It would be so nice to have a year-round green space that would be illuminated at night in the winter, lighting up the grey nights.
I like the idea for turning the current City Market building into a wintergarden, especially if it could be expanded a little. It's worth noting that a group at MSU has been trying for years to build a domed winter garden near Abram's Planetarium: Student Greenhouse Project. I''d always hoped to see it actually get built but it looks like they're still a long ways from funding it.
As for City Market, I have my own vision of what I think it should be so bear with me as I disagree a little. To start with I just don't think the Clara's site is really large enough for what City Market should be. There's also no reason to place City Market right in one of the fastest up-and-coming areas of the city, City Market is a draw itself and could be used to anchor an area that needs a boost. My two favorite locations are unlikely to be available to the city, especially at a reasonable cost; The old Atlas Forge/Atmosphere Annealing building on Mt Hope & the RR tracks and the Demmer site on Oakland/Ballard would make excellent sites for an expanded City Market with room around them for complementary businesses and new developments.
That being said, I've recently thought that the BWL facility at Pennsylvania and Hazel might be the most realistic path to a far better and bigger market. The site has plenty of space for a market vastly expanded in scope, which I think is key to its success. (I think I've given this spiel before...) I think there should be space for long-term, seasonal, short-term and even daily vendors; this should include a good amount of outdoor/greenhouse space for the plant/flower vendors that seem to be an attraction for public markets. There should also be a market run "general store" of sorts which would provide basics (e.g. milk, pop, toiletries...) to ensure people could depend on the market as a shopping destination. The addition of a flea market/swap meet would be a great way to boost traffic, it could even be in it's own building at BWL's site. I've seen Eastern Market featured on a program where they talk about its wholesale market that links up farmers, stores, restaurants and wholesalers; I think that would be a great thing to try to replicate at Lansing's market. Lastly, a new market would ideally have room for events, such as things on the scale of the festivals held in Old Town and REO Town.
The BWL site should have room for all those things plus more while having plenty of room for parking. It's not in the most desirable location but it's in the core of the city, on the river with access to the River Trail and has good freeway access. The bigger key might be that it's publicly owned, if BWL doesn't give the land to the city it would certainly sell it cheap and the buildings wouldn't need a ton of modifications to function as a market. This seems like a very realistic way to get much bigger and better market for not a lot of money.
I like both ideas; there are definitely many good potential locations for various reasons. I think in particular the BWL, which will soon be empty, is a nice option simply because of the additional space, parking and river trail access. The only dilemma is how much of it is in the floodplain? Parking and out door vendor space could easily be located in those areas assuming the building itself isn't. I especially like the idea of maintaining a location along the river; I loved being able to ride my bike along the river trail and stop at the market to pick a few things up. While I like the idea of it at the old Clara's site it is definitely not hospitable to non vehicles.
@hood the Atlas Forge building- is that the one on Mt. Hope and Washington? If so, that's the site that I think is ideal for a city market. I'll copy and paste my comments from elsewhere:
There's a large warehouse facility that I think is owned by QD on the corner of Washington and Mt. Hope. I think this is a great place for a new market, with the potential to become Lansing's answer to Detroit's Eastern Market. This location sits at the southern entrance of REO town, so it's relatively easy to capture tourist travelers from the north and it links REO to the residential neighborhoods of the south side.
Streetview of the spot
It's the perfect balance of providing fresh and artisan food to neighboring areas, and having a tourist area to draw those from surrounding areas. Tons of indoor space, a nice industrial feel that fits the city, ample parking in the area, and close to an emerging district. It seems so perfect to me and would be very similar to Eastern Market.