Since moving here a few years ago, I have felt the same way about the lack of facilities and attractions to highlight GM and Lansing's manufacturing heritage. Considering how successful such things have been elsewhere, even for defunct auto brands (saturn, studebaker, hudson, etc.), I'd think GM would be interested in setting up a showroom and/or museum/event space near REO town, and offering plant tours. Much like the Henry Ford in Dearborn. The ideal spot for such a complex? those bleak parking lots along the waterfront facing REO town.
Not only would this be great local PR, but I think it would spur some folks to rediscover GM as a modern manufacturer of high quality autos. And be a huge boon to retail, resturants and (future) hotels in REO town and downtown.
That is a great idea. Back in the day, Olds had plant tours and a small showroom at Logan Street [MLK] and Olds Ave. I might be wrong but I think that employees could buy a car there. The area that you mention was once a park called Elm Street Park, it would be really great if they put some sort of attraction on the river bank there. Right now the view from the new sunken garden is going to be a lot of blacktop parking lots on both sides of the river. I think that right now GM does not really care too much about their excess parking on our riverbanks, or anywhere else. It would be good for local leaders to prompt them to do something with all these unused acres of parking lots.
I believe I remember reading about a time not too long ago when the city asked GM about the huge parking lots. GM hinted that maybe one day the company would use the parking lots for a new development, and that shut the city right up, of course. Lansing has no leverage.
The trick is in convincing GM that investing in Lansing will pay off for GM. You'd have to demonstrate to the company how a show room or museum would improve the company's bottom line. I think a good start would be take a close look at the riverfront around the RE Olds Museum and try to include GM in a project there.
I lived in Waterloo, Iowa for a while. It's very similar to Michigan's mid-sized industrial cities (like Lansing, Waterloo even borders a vibrant college town). John Deere has some factories in Waterloo and the city has a rich history of tractor manufacturing - the city invented the gas tractor. Anyway, long story short, Waterloo was able to reinvent an old industrial area near downtown into a high tech industrial campus, even getting John Deere to open a museum there.
Lansing should look into doing something similar. Rather than waiting for an outside company to bring change, be the change you want to see! I might have a few small details wrong, but I believe in Waterloo local employers got together, formed an economic development corporation and built a high tech industrial campus.
I don't have much of a dog in this subject matter, but we can't talk about auto heritage in the region without including the RE Olds Transportation Museum in the discussion. It's completely undersized and tucked away, but they must be included in whatever future museum talk there is. We're kind of here talking about it as if there isn't any museum in the city, which just isn't true.
I should've elaborated in my last post that in my dream world, GM would partner with the RE Olds Museum and improve it. Not that it isn't already a fine museum, but certainly it could be expanded.
I was very disappointed to hear the R E Olds Transportation museum was going to be bound to their building as a condition of the city's sale. I had really hoped, and continue to hope, that the R E Olds Museum would be able to move into a much larger more prominent location with a larger car collection and an expanded focus (think trains, military stuff and industrial exhibits). It would be even better if they could get an old industrial building, in the most perfect of worlds they'd have the budget to buy and fill the John Bean building, but the only way that happens is with massive GM investment.
Perhaps the BWL would consider donating their soon to be vacated complex? If would be a potentially awesome location for them with plenty of room to expand and moving from floodplain to floodplain couldn't be that much of an issue. That may actually be a viable idea.
All good ideas, and of course the Olds Museum would feature heavily in such a plan. If the museum can't move, perhaps there could be a "Transportation Trail" between the GR plant and the Olds Museum/Museum District? It could incorporate a new park/feature at the newly vacant BWL land at Hazel/Penn Ave, which is right between the two.
I also do like the idea of putting buildings along at least one of the streets of the Hazel/Penn property.
I was also speaking in terms of "wouldn't it be great if they did" about the riverfront parking lots and a Lansing made products display. There was a "showroom" but that was when Olds division actually could do different things somewhat independently. I was thinking more of the idea of a display window somewhere downtown like in front of the Cooley Stadium. I have about zero expectations that GM will do anything like this.
I think the location of the REO museum is not so bad, I could see a building added with elevated display space a floor up over a "parking area" at ground level where vehicles could be displayed but easily removed in the case of flooding.
Well gbd, 10 or 20 years ago I'd have agreed fully with you on GM. But now that they are making electric cars and the environmental movement has gained widespread acceptance, perhaps GM could improve its image (and sales...) by making a commitment to greening up its manufacturing facilities at the GR plant by eliminating unnecessary surface lots, thereby reducing runoff and pollution into the Grand River. Simply tearing them up and planting them would create a riparian buffer zone which would be aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sound. Very good PR in my opinion!
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Magnate and gbd, re REO town:
Since moving here a few years ago, I have felt the same way about the lack of facilities and attractions to highlight GM and Lansing's manufacturing heritage. Considering how successful such things have been elsewhere, even for defunct auto brands (saturn, studebaker, hudson, etc.), I'd think GM would be interested in setting up a showroom and/or museum/event space near REO town, and offering plant tours. Much like the Henry Ford in Dearborn. The ideal spot for such a complex? those bleak parking lots along the waterfront facing REO town.
Not only would this be great local PR, but I think it would spur some folks to rediscover GM as a modern manufacturer of high quality autos. And be a huge boon to retail, resturants and (future) hotels in REO town and downtown.
That is a great idea. Back in the day, Olds had plant tours and a small showroom at Logan Street [MLK] and Olds Ave. I might be wrong but I think that employees could buy a car there. The area that you mention was once a park called Elm Street Park, it would be really great if they put some sort of attraction on the river bank there. Right now the view from the new sunken garden is going to be a lot of blacktop parking lots on both sides of the river. I think that right now GM does not really care too much about their excess parking on our riverbanks, or anywhere else. It would be good for local leaders to prompt them to do something with all these unused acres of parking lots.
I believe I remember reading about a time not too long ago when the city asked GM about the huge parking lots. GM hinted that maybe one day the company would use the parking lots for a new development, and that shut the city right up, of course. Lansing has no leverage.
The trick is in convincing GM that investing in Lansing will pay off for GM. You'd have to demonstrate to the company how a show room or museum would improve the company's bottom line. I think a good start would be take a close look at the riverfront around the RE Olds Museum and try to include GM in a project there.
I lived in Waterloo, Iowa for a while. It's very similar to Michigan's mid-sized industrial cities (like Lansing, Waterloo even borders a vibrant college town). John Deere has some factories in Waterloo and the city has a rich history of tractor manufacturing - the city invented the gas tractor. Anyway, long story short, Waterloo was able to reinvent an old industrial area near downtown into a high tech industrial campus, even getting John Deere to open a museum there.
Lansing should look into doing something similar. Rather than waiting for an outside company to bring change, be the change you want to see! I might have a few small details wrong, but I believe in Waterloo local employers got together, formed an economic development corporation and built a high tech industrial campus.
I don't have much of a dog in this subject matter, but we can't talk about auto heritage in the region without including the RE Olds Transportation Museum in the discussion. It's completely undersized and tucked away, but they must be included in whatever future museum talk there is. We're kind of here talking about it as if there isn't any museum in the city, which just isn't true.
I should've elaborated in my last post that in my dream world, GM would partner with the RE Olds Museum and improve it. Not that it isn't already a fine museum, but certainly it could be expanded.
I was very disappointed to hear the R E Olds Transportation museum was going to be bound to their building as a condition of the city's sale. I had really hoped, and continue to hope, that the R E Olds Museum would be able to move into a much larger more prominent location with a larger car collection and an expanded focus (think trains, military stuff and industrial exhibits). It would be even better if they could get an old industrial building, in the most perfect of worlds they'd have the budget to buy and fill the John Bean building, but the only way that happens is with massive GM investment.
Perhaps the BWL would consider donating their soon to be vacated complex? If would be a potentially awesome location for them with plenty of room to expand and moving from floodplain to floodplain couldn't be that much of an issue. That may actually be a viable idea.
All good ideas, and of course the Olds Museum would feature heavily in such a plan. If the museum can't move, perhaps there could be a "Transportation Trail" between the GR plant and the Olds Museum/Museum District? It could incorporate a new park/feature at the newly vacant BWL land at Hazel/Penn Ave, which is right between the two.
I also do like the idea of putting buildings along at least one of the streets of the Hazel/Penn property.
I was also speaking in terms of "wouldn't it be great if they did" about the riverfront parking lots and a Lansing made products display. There was a "showroom" but that was when Olds division actually could do different things somewhat independently. I was thinking more of the idea of a display window somewhere downtown like in front of the Cooley Stadium. I have about zero expectations that GM will do anything like this.
I think the location of the REO museum is not so bad, I could see a building added with elevated display space a floor up over a "parking area" at ground level where vehicles could be displayed but easily removed in the case of flooding.
Well gbd, 10 or 20 years ago I'd have agreed fully with you on GM. But now that they are making electric cars and the environmental movement has gained widespread acceptance, perhaps GM could improve its image (and sales...) by making a commitment to greening up its manufacturing facilities at the GR plant by eliminating unnecessary surface lots, thereby reducing runoff and pollution into the Grand River. Simply tearing them up and planting them would create a riparian buffer zone which would be aesthetically pleasing and environmentally sound. Very good PR in my opinion!
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