There are so many questions that come to mind when I look at this building. One that I always think of is what did they do with all of those stone bricks and window and door frames? I know the Mayor then wanted Lansing to be a more modern
I was reading a Lansing history book published in the 80's "Out Of A Wilderness" which tells about the same story as the others I have looked at. There were a few things the stuck out for me in this book. The Native Americans were "removed" from our counties in the 1850's by the Federal Government and the settlers soon missed them, as they natives knew much more about how to survive and were of great help to the original European Americans who came to this area. Also, that Lansing was a later development, many other Michigan cities were civilized and "modern" while there was nothing but forest here. I think that is why our city is laid out with wide streets and even grid pattern as it was more planned than older cities that grew more organically. In more recent history there is a great photo of what looks to be a nearly complete new City Hall with the old one still standing in the courtyard. The old one looked small and sad like it knew what was going to happen! Another photo that struck me was of the Capitol Building in 1980, it was painted fence post white which was pealing from the dome revealing big black patches, it looked a mess. That really made me appreciate how beautiful the building looks now that we are taking better care of it.
It is too bad they did not just incorporate the old into the new, it is interesting to see a building fitting into the Plaza space. I guess they could build a hotel there.
Our history is why we should not really compare Lansing with cites like Ann Arbor that are decades older and have a more centralized downtown where we have four downtowns if you include East Lansing.
This is so interesting, first JFK going down Michigan Ave. in a convertible Olds did not seem to cause much of a reaction from the folks of that day. Also in these classic photos, Downtown looks full of buildings and businesses of all kinds. I do remember the slight arch in the old bridge on Michigan Ave. You can see what they covered up with glass at the Grand View building on the left.
Thank you for posting this. I was last there about 40 years ago so I remembered the fountain but not how it worked! Looks kind of cool with the reflections on the marble wall, for some reason we like building fountains but then have a hard time maintaining them. There were several fountains and water features in the N. Washington SQ. mall[70's version] all of which worked for about one year.
When I was a kid I thought the building looked like the U.N.! I was only here that one time for jury duty, there were many brakes in the trial and this is where they sent the jury to wait.
I saw a really great photo of the Logan Street bridge in1965 on the Lansing history facebook page. [I don't know how to transfer them here] Also some notes about the 70's N. Washington Square Mall and the artwork that was chosen to be there. People had some pretty strong opinions about the piece that was at Michigan and N. Washington mostly that it was a great waste of money. I am happy that we have a new attitude toward public art these days. The "mall" itself was kind of a bold idea but people just did not use it. What we tore down to create it was not worth what they built there.
Comments
There are so many questions that come to mind when I look at this building. One that I always think of is what did they do with all of those stone bricks and window and door frames? I know the Mayor then wanted Lansing to be a more modern
I was reading a Lansing history book published in the 80's "Out Of A Wilderness" which tells about the same story as the others I have looked at. There were a few things the stuck out for me in this book. The Native Americans were "removed" from our counties in the 1850's by the Federal Government and the settlers soon missed them, as they natives knew much more about how to survive and were of great help to the original European Americans who came to this area. Also, that Lansing was a later development, many other Michigan cities were civilized and "modern" while there was nothing but forest here. I think that is why our city is laid out with wide streets and even grid pattern as it was more planned than older cities that grew more organically. In more recent history there is a great photo of what looks to be a nearly complete new City Hall with the old one still standing in the courtyard. The old one looked small and sad like it knew what was going to happen! Another photo that struck me was of the Capitol Building in 1980, it was painted fence post white which was pealing from the dome revealing big black patches, it looked a mess. That really made me appreciate how beautiful the building looks now that we are taking better care of it.
It is too bad they did not just incorporate the old into the new, it is interesting to see a building fitting into the Plaza space. I guess they could build a hotel there.
Our history is why we should not really compare Lansing with cites like Ann Arbor that are decades older and have a more centralized downtown where we have four downtowns if you include East Lansing.
Seeing that beautiful building replaced by the plaza is heartbreaking. Our city leaders were horrible about preserving worthy buildings.
This is so interesting, first JFK going down Michigan Ave. in a convertible Olds did not seem to cause much of a reaction from the folks of that day. Also in these classic photos, Downtown looks full of buildings and businesses of all kinds. I do remember the slight arch in the old bridge on Michigan Ave. You can see what they covered up with glass at the Grand View building on the left.
Thank you for posting this. I was last there about 40 years ago so I remembered the fountain but not how it worked! Looks kind of cool with the reflections on the marble wall, for some reason we like building fountains but then have a hard time maintaining them. There were several fountains and water features in the N. Washington SQ. mall[70's version] all of which worked for about one year.
When I was a kid I thought the building looked like the U.N.! I was only here that one time for jury duty, there were many brakes in the trial and this is where they sent the jury to wait.
This huge open space was just for the public to appreciate and pass through. I think it was designed to be the opposite of the Old City Hall.
I saw a really great photo of the Logan Street bridge in1965 on the Lansing history facebook page. [I don't know how to transfer them here] Also some notes about the 70's N. Washington Square Mall and the artwork that was chosen to be there. People had some pretty strong opinions about the piece that was at Michigan and N. Washington mostly that it was a great waste of money. I am happy that we have a new attitude toward public art these days. The "mall" itself was kind of a bold idea but people just did not use it. What we tore down to create it was not worth what they built there.
City Hall is such a cool building. Totally a UN building
I hope people appreciate it as much we should....and fight for it.