GBD, yeah the Washinton pedestrian mall was a weird thing. I spent a lot of time there in the late nineties/early 2000's skateboarding on those old fountains. Before the skatepark was built the plaza was the most likely place to meet other skateboarders (along with the amphitheater down by the water at Lansing Center). It was magical and we had so much fun there......but rarely saw anyone else using that space, and the city is probably better off without it.
I remember hearing about that art piece being controversial and a waste of money (in the grand scheme I cannot understand why people are such tightwads about money.....it's just made up anyways, right?). But some little known history is that the sculpture put Lansing on the map because there was a photo of some skater doing a trick on it (the base had an incline that served as a kind of ramp) and the photo was on the cover of a national skateboarding magazine.
It is possible to edit posts. It's the litle "gear" icon that pops up in the right-hand corner of the post when you scroll over it. Otherwise, you're making six consecutive posts in the span of an hour simply because you can't gather your thoughts. Internet etiquette 101.
Yeah I remember that photo and all the coverage it got. That was an awesome photo and a great skate spot, it was sad for us skaters when the mall got ripped up. I also had the same experience, never were there any office workers, students, or other pedestrians on the mall.
Very cool photo! I did not know what year they took out the mall, I was thinking it was in the 90's. The trees look nice so they must have cut them down first thing!:}
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...for its preservation, I should say
GBD, yeah the Washinton pedestrian mall was a weird thing. I spent a lot of time there in the late nineties/early 2000's skateboarding on those old fountains. Before the skatepark was built the plaza was the most likely place to meet other skateboarders (along with the amphitheater down by the water at Lansing Center). It was magical and we had so much fun there......but rarely saw anyone else using that space, and the city is probably better off without it.
I remember hearing about that art piece being controversial and a waste of money (in the grand scheme I cannot understand why people are such tightwads about money.....it's just made up anyways, right?). But some little known history is that the sculpture put Lansing on the map because there was a photo of some skater doing a trick on it (the base had an incline that served as a kind of ramp) and the photo was on the cover of a national skateboarding magazine.
pretty sure this was the photo. Also an interesting interview with a Lansing-bred photographer:
https://skatejawn.com/mike-blabac-interview/
It is possible to edit posts. It's the litle "gear" icon that pops up in the right-hand corner of the post when you scroll over it. Otherwise, you're making six consecutive posts in the span of an hour simply because you can't gather your thoughts. Internet etiquette 101.
Yeah I remember that photo and all the coverage it got. That was an awesome photo and a great skate spot, it was sad for us skaters when the mall got ripped up. I also had the same experience, never were there any office workers, students, or other pedestrians on the mall.
Uh oh, do we need to start a Lansing Skateboarding thread???
Very cool photo! I did not know what year they took out the mall, I was thinking it was in the 90's. The trees look nice so they must have cut them down first thing!:}
The mall was removed in 2007. I have some photos from a decade ago showing it:
2006:
2007: