This photo show the pride Lansing took in it's civic facilities, building beautiful buildings for things like pump houses and transformers. That area today looks neglected, the cement fish ladder is stained and dirty there is bad graffiti art painted on the cement bowl, and weeds growing everywhere. I have yet to see a fish in the ladder. This is an area tourist are directed to, they must feel disappointed, like me, when they see it.
Yeah, I don't have much a problem with it. These developments cleaned up some pretty bad areas. Even in whatever state it's in, now (and I actually don't think it looks terribly bad), the difference between than and now is night and day in the immediate surroundings. Hell, even in just the past five years the immediate surroundings are looking better. Sure, clean-up some of the grafitti on the ladder, itself, but the rest of it has been well maintained.
Of course it does look better than the industrial wasteland that was there before, I think they could just take better care of the area and the fish ladder itself. It would not be very expensive to dig out the weeds and power wash the cement.
I absolutely agree it needs to be maintained better now that it is becoming a major draw for visitors to the city. I park there while visiting at the MICA Gallery and there is broken glass, litter and an overall "dirty/seedy" look that makes you want to park elsewhere.
In the early eighties, we used to go out once a month and clean up around the dam and the clean the trash boom of debris. By 1990, that had stopped and it was only done if there was a complaint or some big stuck on the boom. (Youngest on the crew at the time, guess who had to get hooked to the crane and hung over the river to release the trees and stumps ?) It has improved since then. There is still room to improve that area.
Here is the construction of a well house you were speaking of. Craftsmanship, period. Built of local brick, and stone with local bricklayers; something we have lost in the area known for producing brick and tile from local clay deposits. Now, low bid wins.
Is this the one down at 496 and Pennsylvania? I do wish cities still built their pumphouses and substations like this. Lansing's lucky to have been a community, though, that spent money back in the day on the architecture of its infrastructure. There are BWL properties like this on Verlinden and on the westside and Magnolia on the eastside and a bit further down Pennsylvania near the zoo on the southside. It's why the new central substation they want to build the Scott Gardens sticks out even more considering what we used to do. That, and we even have a modern example of BWL still caring about the architecture of if infrastructure with the REO Co-generation Plant down on Washington.
I believe there is another nice looking pumping station next to the Larch Street overpass on the North side.
I agree that the REOtown BWL is a nice looking building. They still seem to have an idea of design and pride in the new public facilities they have built even now. That is why is seems so strange that they are so focused on the sunken garden area. By the way the little garden is very beautiful this season, right now all the summer flowers are in bloom and the little pond actually has fish swimming about, please take a moment to pull off the road or the river trail and visit.
It's funny, because I remember when they talked about moving this, last year, but until a few days ago, I'd actually not seen it. The entire redo of the streetscape is really nice. The column was a part of LCC's president mission to fill the campus with art.
This is very nice. I do remember when the old Y was the only one, LCC held some of their Phys.Ed. classes their before they had their own facilities. The "weights room" was through a short door in the side of the shower room, it was actually a windowless space or room between the shower room wall and the wall of the swimming pool, "kind of strange" I would always think going to my class there. I really like how they commemorated both the Y and Lansing Central, my Dad was in the class of '38. Other than the actual pavement on the streets, which is still really bad, LCC has really beautified the whole campus area. I like how the landscaping is not the one petunia here another a foot away approach, the landscape is more flowers more trees more lawns, more than you would expect. Very beautiful and worth a visit.
Comments
In the early eighties, we used to go out once a month and clean up around the dam and the clean the trash boom of debris. By 1990, that had stopped and it was only done if there was a complaint or some big stuck on the boom. (Youngest on the crew at the time, guess who had to get hooked to the crane and hung over the river to release the trees and stumps ?) It has improved since then. There is still room to improve that area.
Here is the construction of a well house you were speaking of. Craftsmanship, period. Built of local brick, and stone with local bricklayers; something we have lost in the area known for producing brick and tile from local clay deposits. Now, low bid wins.
Lansing East Side residential substation by ridolfo, on Flickr
Water Works Sub Station No. 3 by Brandon Bartoszek, on Flickr
I agree that the REOtown BWL is a nice looking building. They still seem to have an idea of design and pride in the new public facilities they have built even now. That is why is seems so strange that they are so focused on the sunken garden area. By the way the little garden is very beautiful this season, right now all the summer flowers are in bloom and the little pond actually has fish swimming about, please take a moment to pull off the road or the river trail and visit.