The Baskin Robbins there has it's own unique story. I remember it was located in a section of the mall that jutted out in to the parking lot. This section was removed when the mall was remodeled, and the Baskin Robbins moved to be located next to Medawar Jewelers. After maintaining that location for maybe 10 years, corporate Baskin Robbins dictated to its franchises that they needed to add Dunkin Donuts to all of their locations (including new signage, machinery, training, etc). At that time many Baskin Robbins franchises closed, and this one in particular changed from a Baskin Robbins to Sparty's Sundae, which it is now operating as.
There also was a Pinball Pete's location at Frandor that was closed when the mall remodeled. I was a little too young to know it well, but I think it may have been adjacent to Kroger's.
I think that although admirable [they thought they had to do something] the malling of Washington Ave was and still is in some ways a failure. Every plan was downsized delayed until it was never built, every thing that was build was usually downsized may less ornate than the original plan. Some times what was built was so wrong or lame that you wondered why did they spend money on this? Like the playground they built in the middle of downtown if front of the building pictured above, or the fountains the broke after about a month I think. I am sure it was millions of dollars for that mall that they dug up. The buildings that replaced 19th and 20th century Lansing are mainly nice but unremarkable there are still street parking lots on Washington were stores and theaters use to be. I wonder why? I am very much impressed with Lansing these days however after being away for 35 years, just plan and do it right the first time, no more cut rate downsized low bid the only factor projects. How about the best built with the integrity of the buildings our forefathers built here were even the water plant was beautiful.
The malling of Washington Ave was probably the worst thing to happen to downtown, followed by the Capitol Complex. It destroyed the main throughfare, destroyed a few of the nicest commercial blocks and cost a lot of money in the process. I'll never understand what made them think that was a good idea, even when really trying to understand the thinking at the time. I'm still angry that they allowed LCC to buy their Washington Ave right of way, permanently disconnecting Downtown and Old Town.
Yeah, malls can be great when they replace short sections of side streets in very densely populated areas, but probably never when cutting off a main throughfare like Washington, let alone in 1960's Lansing.
Even now, years after removing the malls there's been no new retail or development proposed for North Washington. I hope to see all three of the buildings on the east side of the 200 block get replaced with something taller and accommodating mixed use. LCC owns both sides of the 300 block besides the MEDC building and I think seeing them build something in the near future on one of the sites is pretty realistic. Whether or not it will be mixed use is a big question, but maybe if we're really lucky they'll build some dorms/apartments with ground floor retail.
It look like at this point they could have saved the old next to the new. They did not do it that way back then. it was out with the old. Too bad so many people felt that way such a beautiful example of civic architecture in the Romanesque style. Many Mid-western cities had this style of municipal buildings schools and churches. It was the fashion in the last part of the 19th century. It was built to last. There are a few examples of the era that escaped the wrecker's ball in Lansing like the United Methodist Church on Capital Ave. It is just another example of how we should really thinks about what we tear down and what is going to replace the old.
Being a young gay man out and about at the time I can remember this area very well. I don't know what all went on in the bookstores and movie houses but we were having a disco blast in Trammpp's. There was a sign at the door that you needed seven ID's to enter, a really great drag queen named Syn Copper was at the door for a long time and if she did not like the looks of you you did not get in. Safety was a concern in those days. Once inside it was quite a scene packed with all kinds of people dancing to really good music not really the main stream disco music, they always had a deeper funk and soul beat. It was really a fun place but from the outside you would never know what was going on behind those fake stones. I can remember running across wide Michigan Ave in the frozen winters snow blowing so hard you could hardly see the Capital no one else anywhere, passing through the door and steam from body heat would bellow out the door from all the people inside dancing. In those days it was one of the few places you could be open and find other gay folks it was fun!
Wow that's quite the story. From looking at the pictures alone I would have thought that Trammpp's was out of business when they took those pictures, but I guess it was just trying to not draw any unwanted attention.
I moved out east in '81 so I am not sure but I think that that bar was open until they bought it out to make room for the baseball stadium. That area was not all "sin strip" filled with men in overcoats doing sinful things. My mates and I were early urban pioneers and moved into a big place on Eureka Street,there were hookers there but no one ever bothered us, not many MSU students lived in downtown Lansing in those days. On hot summer days we would cut class {I always went summer term} and go down to Famous Taco for real Mexican food and big Margarita's. It was really dark and cool in there and so nice on a hot day, the food was really good and the people there were really nice. I don't remember the 80's facade but Joe Cavello's was the "gay bar" before Trammps opened in '76. That place had a old school bar look with big leather booths, pool table,pinball and a great jukebox
Even though I guess I could have, I never went into the X rated businesses in that strip and out side of the signs I never saw anything or anyone on the street really that lived up to the reputation of a wild place that was unsafe. those businesses were allowed in a zoned adult entertainment area as part of the liberal idea of that freedom of press and expression applied to sexual expression like nude dancing, and pornography. It was a way to zone or have control of were that type of now legal business could be. It may have been a good idea but most "sin strips" or "combat zones" led to the decline of the neighborhoods around them. From today's prospective it seems pretty crazy to have had it right on Michigan Ave. in front of the State Capital, but people really did not care about that part of downtown at the time and most would not be caught dead on those blocks. I think Clara's was the beginning of turning the tide for that area.
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There also was a Pinball Pete's location at Frandor that was closed when the mall remodeled. I was a little too young to know it well, but I think it may have been adjacent to Kroger's.
This hasn't been mentioned before, has it?
Even now, years after removing the malls there's been no new retail or development proposed for North Washington. I hope to see all three of the buildings on the east side of the 200 block get replaced with something taller and accommodating mixed use. LCC owns both sides of the 300 block besides the MEDC building and I think seeing them build something in the near future on one of the sites is pretty realistic. Whether or not it will be mixed use is a big question, but maybe if we're really lucky they'll build some dorms/apartments with ground floor retail.
Even though I guess I could have, I never went into the X rated businesses in that strip and out side of the signs I never saw anything or anyone on the street really that lived up to the reputation of a wild place that was unsafe. those businesses were allowed in a zoned adult entertainment area as part of the liberal idea of that freedom of press and expression applied to sexual expression like nude dancing, and pornography. It was a way to zone or have control of were that type of now legal business could be. It may have been a good idea but most "sin strips" or "combat zones" led to the decline of the neighborhoods around them. From today's prospective it seems pretty crazy to have had it right on Michigan Ave. in front of the State Capital, but people really did not care about that part of downtown at the time and most would not be caught dead on those blocks. I think Clara's was the beginning of turning the tide for that area.