There are four different SmartZones in the area, but only two of them have been developed in any kind of way and that's the one at the University Corporate Research Park and the one in downtown East Lansing.
There is another designated in downtown Lansing within the boundaries of Grand Avenue, Michigan Avenue, the Grand River, and Shiawassee Street (I guess where Accident Fund is going, today). The last one is designated for where Cedar Village currently is. I guess I'm not sure what happened to these last two.
Can't say that I was expecting to hear anything about the Temple Club, so this is good news, even if does just become an office building. It's good to see this, and the neighborhood Cedar Street School (reopened a few days ago), in use, again. Those were probably two of the largest vacant buildings in all of Old Town/Northtown.
Hey everyone, haven't posted in a while, but always enjoy reading.
Jared, I went to the Chili cookoff, you're right the place was packed. While it was scheduled to run from 5-10pm, my friends and I could not arrive until 8pm, and they had already cut the admission price in half because of dwindling chili supplies. We got in and discovered that out of the 30+ vendors, there were only 4 left who still had chili to distribute. So that was pretty disappointing. But we definitely learned our lesson for next year - don't try and go late!
I was wondering if this is the first year the event was held at that large park across from LCC on Grand. I thought I remembered it taking place closer to the Lansing Center, on the large decks / veranda they have on the river, just west of the Center. But there isn't any way they would have been able to host the number of attendees I witnessed last night.
The cook-off has been held at the Lansing Center for as long as I can remember, so it was a surprise to see it in Riverfront Park. I didn't go (I was one of the guys fishing on the other side of the river, if anyone saw me), but had a few friends and relatives that went. They said it was organized poorly (many ended up running out of chili very early, from what I heard, and the lines were too long), and I heard over the intercom that this was the first time they've ever sold out. I think it'd work better the old way where they string the kiosks out along the River Trail (like they used to), so you can control the crowd better. And, like the old River Fest, they could create a kind of node for a good group of the entries under the Shiawassee Street bridge.
On another note, anyone notice, today or recently, work going on at the long-abandoned service station just west of Old Town on Grand River and Capitol? It was recently featured in the City Pulse with the owner saying that he's finally going to demolish it to create suitable parking for the neighboring apartment house. Anyway, for the first time ever I saw a guy out moving the grass and cleaning up the property. I'll be glad when it's gone; it's been such an eyesore.
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There is another designated in downtown Lansing within the boundaries of Grand Avenue, Michigan Avenue, the Grand River, and Shiawassee Street (I guess where Accident Fund is going, today). The last one is designated for where Cedar Village currently is. I guess I'm not sure what happened to these last two.
I'd like to see the boardwalk to go up on the other side of the river, too.
This is good news, they said that they expect to turn it into office space and renovations are to be done by early 2010.
Jared, I went to the Chili cookoff, you're right the place was packed. While it was scheduled to run from 5-10pm, my friends and I could not arrive until 8pm, and they had already cut the admission price in half because of dwindling chili supplies. We got in and discovered that out of the 30+ vendors, there were only 4 left who still had chili to distribute. So that was pretty disappointing. But we definitely learned our lesson for next year - don't try and go late!
I was wondering if this is the first year the event was held at that large park across from LCC on Grand. I thought I remembered it taking place closer to the Lansing Center, on the large decks / veranda they have on the river, just west of the Center. But there isn't any way they would have been able to host the number of attendees I witnessed last night.
On another note, anyone notice, today or recently, work going on at the long-abandoned service station just west of Old Town on Grand River and Capitol? It was recently featured in the City Pulse with the owner saying that he's finally going to demolish it to create suitable parking for the neighboring apartment house. Anyway, for the first time ever I saw a guy out moving the grass and cleaning up the property. I'll be glad when it's gone; it's been such an eyesore.