I was in E.L. the other day and noticed the new building. It looks huge, but seems like it will be a nice looking building. I like the curved facade on the corner.
That Trowbridge QD building is horrible. It's too small and the only time I ever saw it busy was when people would walk across from the old train station. Hopefully they will rebuild in the area.
It seems like Trowbridge needs to be reconfigured as could be easier to get from one side to the other. The new plaza is very busy and now the "T" building [western most Red Line stop} is occupied the parking lot seems really full all the time. I could see some new businesses there but not more housing right next to the tracks. There will soon be hundreds more people living a few blocks away in the new student housing that is going up very quickly. I think they will make up the people lost from Spartan Village. Also I noticed that the Muslim Center has put up a huge white fence around the playground, which seems like a sad sign of the times. I really did enjoy seeing all the little kids playing in the playground and would think that this is Lansing, were all are welcome. I hope the fence is a precaution not a reaction.
You know when our own church (which is on the outskirts of East Lansing in a neighborhood area) was considering erecting a playground (because we have a billion kids there), I remember someone saying "and we could put a fence around it so the neighborhood kids don't use it". Which I thought was a really sad comment. But I don't think it's from any animosity toward neighborhood kids, I think it was just legal protection - somebody falls, somebody sues, God bless America. It would probably never happen, but there is that fear, you can sue for anything in America. Really sad.
That QD really does suck, it probably shouldn't have been in that building to begin with. Anyone else notice the Howard Johnson on Trowbridge is closed down also?
Regarding EL construction: All the four floor buildings along the southern edge of 1855 place are topped out and nearing completion, one of the townhouse buildings is topped out and work is beginning on at least one other, site work has started for the main buildings fronting Harrison and the parking ramp opened a week or two ago. The Breslin Center additions are also coming along, there's a couple spots where they've already erected steel for expanded concourses and it looks like the foundation for the Hall of History is well underway. I also noticed that they're back working on the Red Cedar Flats at Northwind & Grand River, looks like just site/utility work right now.
I am very glad to hear that the fence may have been put up for insurance and safety reasons. I know the center has been there a long time, and has always been a peaceful and good neighbor. The current political discourse got me thinking when I saw the fence. There are so many reasons to love Lansing, and our diversity and neighborly attitude are two of the best.
That site has gone up so fast, I noticed cars parked in the ramp as well. I thought maybe they are the workers cars. Isn't that the ramp was for students who will live in the new housing, maybe the university is already having others park there. In any case we can sure put up a parking ramp around here. I wonder if East Lansing has more than Lansing? Who is parking out there at MSU anyway? Do students get a parking space included these days? I am hoping that the new BRT system may help the employees in the area become less dependent on the auto culture and maybe East Lansing and MSU could build something other than parking ramps.
Nothing on this site will ever live up to how amazing University Village was - in terms of layout, scale, atmosphere. I have so many great memories from those apartments and grounds....
I always hoped the old state police buildings would be preserved/repurposed - they'd obviously be much better than the parking ramp that's replacing them. I don't completely understand the layout of the new development, but I do like that it's packing a lot in. I think the building on Harrison will turn out nicely too. And yeah, that parking ramp beats the hell out of the gigantic surface parking lot that was there.
Anyone have photos of the medical building on Saginaw? That must be coming along now??
I agree most anything is better than a blacktop surface lot. I was just kind of noting that a lot of the campus and East Lansing are dedicated to parking. Some structures look better than others, but parts of say, Albert Street are kind of unpleasant because of the towering parking ramps. I have no solution to this problem other than taking CATA to East Lansing.
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Regarding EL construction: All the four floor buildings along the southern edge of 1855 place are topped out and nearing completion, one of the townhouse buildings is topped out and work is beginning on at least one other, site work has started for the main buildings fronting Harrison and the parking ramp opened a week or two ago. The Breslin Center additions are also coming along, there's a couple spots where they've already erected steel for expanded concourses and it looks like the foundation for the Hall of History is well underway. I also noticed that they're back working on the Red Cedar Flats at Northwind & Grand River, looks like just site/utility work right now.
I always hoped the old state police buildings would be preserved/repurposed - they'd obviously be much better than the parking ramp that's replacing them. I don't completely understand the layout of the new development, but I do like that it's packing a lot in. I think the building on Harrison will turn out nicely too. And yeah, that parking ramp beats the hell out of the gigantic surface parking lot that was there.
Anyone have photos of the medical building on Saginaw? That must be coming along now??