They are making a lot of progress on the steel, I wouldn't be suprised to see the entire eastern half of the structure completed this week, maybe even started on the other half.
Looks really nice and should add some taste to that old parking lot.It will be a nice cornerstone to the city.How nice is it that the city gives the property to the developer,its the future home to Lansing Chamber of Commerce,and a tax abatement is given to the property.My only problem is nearly every contractor working on the project is from out of town. Majority of them are from Grand Rapids and Adrain.Why would Gillispe hire out of town contractors on a project so heavily funded and influced be local people? These workers take our money and spend it in their local economies and we have plenty of very capable contractors in the area that could do the work, if not better. With the sense of pride that they would have, in helping to build our city this would directly reflect in their craftsmanship and expediency to finish the project.It would also help to boost are already floundering local economy.
Welcome concerned taxpayer, its always nice to have a new voice.
On the subject of why there are so many out of town workers there, I think it is simply because Gillespie chose to use Fryling a Grand Rapids general contractor, and they brought in their own people. Using Fryling was probably a good choice, they are extremely competent when it comes to mixed use projects, especially ones of this size and height. I've also heard they are considerably cheaper than Lansing's big players like Granger, Clark and Christman, all of which are more acustomed to larger, more expensive projects.
I also feel sorry for the construction workers having to travel so far for their work. I was all ready to go into construction (as a union worker,) but then I found that it would require a lot of traveling, which I wasn't willing to do, even for $30+ an hour.
Welcome concernedtaxpayer. There are also people protesting in MSU because of some of the sewer work that is being done is by non-union workers. Have you seen that?
As beautiful of a building as this is going to be, it will always be an eye sore to me. Money once again has been the driving factor to who does a city project. Hood, I bet that the BIG guys never got to even bid the project. I bet that the BIG guys would have only been slightly more expensive and the money would have stayed here in Lansing. The cheaper guy normally ends up costing more in the long run. Have you been to Grand Rapids, Hood? There is always something going on there and they never stop building big beautiful buildings. Even MSU has noticed. They are investing millions of dollars into their new campus for the medical arts building there. We are right next door to East Lansing and they have decided to drive around us to go there. Grand Rapids is self-sufficient and helps pay for their projects from local people who have made their money in Lansing. I bet you'll never see a Lansing contractor over there doing work. That’s because Grand Rapids believes in themselves and their local economy. We need to have the same mentality. We need to stick our money back into Lansing before it becomes another Flint. You would think that the capital of Michigan would be the nicest city in the state, with its significance.
We can only do this by investing in ourselves. Grand Rapids contractors are taking over this town and taking our money back with them. The next time you’re driving to work and a work truck or van passes, look at the phone number on the door. More than likely the area code will be 616, 269, or 213. Some have keyed in on this and only list their 1-800 number. This is not the only job in Lansing being built by Grand Rapids contractors. The roads downtown are being done by them, also, and we all know the problems they have had down there. One more downtown evacuation and we should all leave town before they blow it up.
Hood, do you work for Gillispie or Fryling? Or are you one of those from Grand Rapids? If you were a Lansing resident, what I said earlier would have made sense. Would it be ok if the company you worked for hired Grand Rapids people because they worked a little cheaper than you? Would it be alright as long as they were as competent as you? Would it be alright if your company hired someone else because they were a little more rounded even if they didn’t check your qualifications?
Let's not let this thread get off-topic. But on the issue of MSU investing in Grand Rapids, that has to do with the lack of a medical school in Grand Rapids and the large population to support it. The Lansing area doesn't have a large enough population to support the medical school.
Also, although I would like to see more projects in Lansing, the fact that it is the capital city shouldn't give it increased priority over cities that have larger economies.
LMich,I see it everyday.I know average taxpayer and citizen doesn't see it. Your jobs revolve around other aspects in Lansing. With construction it is a huge problem. As for Granger,Clark, and Christman they are tied to jurisdictional boundaires. By being majority union they have to hire people from the area that they are working in.
I have to disagree that it's alright to use out of town contractors to do city funded jobs. To have the Lansing Chamber of Commerece in the same building that is totally built by nobody in town is mindnumbing. Who do they stand behind? Surely, none of the construction related members of the chamber.
I was in the plumbing business for 5 years before my home life called me back to working for someone else, but I saw it everyday here in town. It's a big problem.
I have some insite to working in Grand Rapids. Out of highschool, I worked as a plumber over there for a year, and like I said in my earlier posting I never saw a Lansing contractor over there. But here it's alright to pay them with our own taxmoney.?????
It starts at the municible level, Our elected officials in town better take notice because we elected them and we can re-elect someone else.
Granger, Christman and Clark all do work nationally. In fact Granger is GC for the new Marriot in Grand Rapids, and I'll bet they used their own people from Lansing to do at least some of the work. On the Stadium District I'm sure Fryling will end up using a lot of Lansing people for their subs. Fryling may have in-house people for foundation and structural work, which would be why they used them here. Besides all that I thought that the workers at Stadium District were Union, just from a union somewhere else.
All I'm saying is that we need to try and support the local business owners in this town where we can. There may be one or two out of 20 that are being done by are own people. They are the ones who have made Lansing what it is.
An argument can still be made that the use of taxpers money should try and go back into the pockets of it's taxpayers.
If you guys think about it on a national level (Made in the USA),why would you not try and buy from your neighbor? Do you guys shop downtown at all? Thats your way of supporting the local economy. The money spent in their shops is taken after work and buys goods somewhere locally to either support the business, themselves, or even possibly you.
Comments
On the subject of why there are so many out of town workers there, I think it is simply because Gillespie chose to use Fryling a Grand Rapids general contractor, and they brought in their own people. Using Fryling was probably a good choice, they are extremely competent when it comes to mixed use projects, especially ones of this size and height. I've also heard they are considerably cheaper than Lansing's big players like Granger, Clark and Christman, all of which are more acustomed to larger, more expensive projects.
I also feel sorry for the construction workers having to travel so far for their work. I was all ready to go into construction (as a union worker,) but then I found that it would require a lot of traveling, which I wasn't willing to do, even for $30+ an hour.
We can only do this by investing in ourselves. Grand Rapids contractors are taking over this town and taking our money back with them. The next time you’re driving to work and a work truck or van passes, look at the phone number on the door. More than likely the area code will be 616, 269, or 213. Some have keyed in on this and only list their 1-800 number. This is not the only job in Lansing being built by Grand Rapids contractors. The roads downtown are being done by them, also, and we all know the problems they have had down there. One more downtown evacuation and we should all leave town before they blow it up.
Hood, do you work for Gillispie or Fryling? Or are you one of those from Grand Rapids? If you were a Lansing resident, what I said earlier would have made sense. Would it be ok if the company you worked for hired Grand Rapids people because they worked a little cheaper than you? Would it be alright as long as they were as competent as you? Would it be alright if your company hired someone else because they were a little more rounded even if they didn’t check your qualifications?
Also, although I would like to see more projects in Lansing, the fact that it is the capital city shouldn't give it increased priority over cities that have larger economies.
I have to disagree that it's alright to use out of town contractors to do city funded jobs. To have the Lansing Chamber of Commerece in the same building that is totally built by nobody in town is mindnumbing. Who do they stand behind? Surely, none of the construction related members of the chamber.
I was in the plumbing business for 5 years before my home life called me back to working for someone else, but I saw it everyday here in town. It's a big problem.
I have some insite to working in Grand Rapids. Out of highschool, I worked as a plumber over there for a year, and like I said in my earlier posting I never saw a Lansing contractor over there. But here it's alright to pay them with our own taxmoney.?????
It starts at the municible level, Our elected officials in town better take notice because we elected them and we can re-elect someone else.
An argument can still be made that the use of taxpers money should try and go back into the pockets of it's taxpayers.
If you guys think about it on a national level (Made in the USA),why would you not try and buy from your neighbor? Do you guys shop downtown at all? Thats your way of supporting the local economy. The money spent in their shops is taken after work and buys goods somewhere locally to either support the business, themselves, or even possibly you.