If you would like to check out a really cool new urban park that might serve as an inspiration for our Riverfront Park check out Little Island Park in New York City. Of course it was financed by very wealthy folks but I could see something "like" this [ an amphitheater, big trees, nice paths ,gardens] the west side of our park.
Everyone doing well after this evening's weather? No damage in Lansing from what I can tell, though there was apparently a touchdown on the MSU campus and in Okemos for a few minutes.
Where on campus was that? Maybe out in the fields? I took a walk around the central campus and there was hardly a branch down. The Red Cedar was rolling along quite high [I think they could surf at the falls] but not out of the banks yet at least at that area. I had been "traumatized" by the weather on Cape Cod so I was freaking out just a bit, I was fearing us and for the trees and so we went downstairs while the sirens were going off. When they started the music up at Harper's we figured it was safe to go back upstairs.
Just a teeny bit of water seepage in the basement, fared good otherwise. I'm just west of Frandor and on a bit of a hill so we really don't have water issues like a lot of people in Lansing do, but the sheer amount of water that came down along with the threat of tornadoes was eerie to say the least. Hope you all fared just fine as well.
I went to the MSU Board Museum a few days ago, they have a very interesting exhibit about about automotive design, and it's influence on art and life. Part of the exhibit included a whole section about the construction and destruction of I-496. There is a photo mural of 1930's Lansing along the future path of the highway on the floor. They offer stickers that people can note a place that is of special memory. I put one on the corner of Main Street and Logan where my Dad would own a Sunoco service station in the late '50s until the state bought the land for the highway in the early '60s. It was cool to note the home of R.E. Olds and all the fine homes in that South Washington area. Even though the photo was taken in the '30s it really shows Lansing's densely packed central city before the highways split it all up and GM took over so much of the area.
Which corner was your dad's station on, GB? Right now, there is a station at the southeast corner, of course. I'm wondering whether it was in the footprint of the freeway?
BTW, there was a church that stood for years afterwards down the block at around Malcolm X/Main and Zubkus way. I've been racking my brain trying to remember what it was, though, and can't come up with the name. I believe it stood until they brought down GM LCA and replaced it with GM LGR; might have even stood for a few years longer.
Edit: The city property look-up tool actually has a picture of it, but no mention of the name and it's not clear enough to make out the sign. As you can see, it was a pretty nice, big church. I saw it quite often going to school, either from the freeway or from MLK.
The station was on the northeast corner of S. Logan and Main Street right where the bridge over 496 is, it was one of the first properties they took. I believe there were gas stations on three of the four corners.
I remember this church sitting on a hill with no trees around it, it was a nice building, there was an African American congregation there when I was young in the early '60s the name Grace may have been part of the church's name?.. It is too bad about it being torn down, after surviving the 496 project. I wonder if GM will ever reduce it's footprint in that area?
I was going to say that I remember it being a black congregation. I'd attended Union Missionary Baptist Church just a few blocks north that survived the decimation 496 brought to the area, and kind of vaguely remember the two churches being friendly with one another, but I can't remember the name. I'll rack my brain to see if I can remember any black congregations with "Grace" in the name. I imagine they moved to the southside like quite a few black congregations in the city have when they outgrew their smaller and older facilities.
I miss UMBC's old church building which was right across the street from the current "mega-church" building:
A big part of their history is that R.E. Olds made a grant to them for their Sunday School service, and MLK's uncle preached there during most of the 50's.
If you don't mind me asking, what was your dad's station a franchize and if so, which gas did you carry?
Okay, looked through some old Sanborn Maps since I knew the church had been there for awhile. As soon as I saw the name I put my face in my palm. OF COURSE it was Friendship Baptist; they are now down on Pleasant Grove in one of those megachurch buildings. I knew people who went there. lol
Also, a block north at the northwest corner of St. Joe and MLK was Mayflower Congregational. They are another church that went to the southside after the construction of 496. They are now on Mt. Hope. And across MLK was Lansing's Latter Day Saints congregation (Mormon church), it appears.
BTW, the maps show just about what you said. At least up until 1951, there was a gas station on every corner...except the corner current with the gas station. lol Other observations? Well, it appears that the two blocks south of Main to Olds were all homes where the current new(er) auto plant is and its parking lots. Also, it appears that Birch Street must have been used for the "loop" in MLK between the river and Kalamazoo. I'd always wondered if they'd used and exist route for that or made a whole new one when they expanded Logan/MLK.
Comments
BTW, there was a church that stood for years afterwards down the block at around Malcolm X/Main and Zubkus way. I've been racking my brain trying to remember what it was, though, and can't come up with the name. I believe it stood until they brought down GM LCA and replaced it with GM LGR; might have even stood for a few years longer.
Edit: The city property look-up tool actually has a picture of it, but no mention of the name and it's not clear enough to make out the sign. As you can see, it was a pretty nice, big church. I saw it quite often going to school, either from the freeway or from MLK.
I remember this church sitting on a hill with no trees around it, it was a nice building, there was an African American congregation there when I was young in the early '60s the name Grace may have been part of the church's name?.. It is too bad about it being torn down, after surviving the 496 project. I wonder if GM will ever reduce it's footprint in that area?
I miss UMBC's old church building which was right across the street from the current "mega-church" building:
A big part of their history is that R.E. Olds made a grant to them for their Sunday School service, and MLK's uncle preached there during most of the 50's.
If you don't mind me asking, what was your dad's station a franchize and if so, which gas did you carry?
Also, a block north at the northwest corner of St. Joe and MLK was Mayflower Congregational. They are another church that went to the southside after the construction of 496. They are now on Mt. Hope. And across MLK was Lansing's Latter Day Saints congregation (Mormon church), it appears.
BTW, the maps show just about what you said. At least up until 1951, there was a gas station on every corner...except the corner current with the gas station. lol Other observations? Well, it appears that the two blocks south of Main to Olds were all homes where the current new(er) auto plant is and its parking lots. Also, it appears that Birch Street must have been used for the "loop" in MLK between the river and Kalamazoo. I'd always wondered if they'd used and exist route for that or made a whole new one when they expanded Logan/MLK.