I remember that sign. I saw it on visits home back in the 80's? It was a silhouette and the tower was depicted out of scale with the rest of the sky line. It was the only building back then, at LCC that was identifiable as part of the sky line, I think the people who built it thought it was really cool looking. I think they were in a very small minority.
YES, it was completely out of scale and most people didn't know what building it was until you told them. I'm still trying to find a pic of the stupid thing, even if only for nostalgia's sake.
Apparently, while the ventilation shaft stopped being used when LCC moved their welding program to their west campus, they will still utilize the internal structure for the Granger Tower clock tower to save money, I guess.
You are right there's no vision here in Lansing I think folks here have this small town vision go up in size get high rise major hotels develop the river into high rise buildings retail and office mix use buildings look at Ann Arbor Grand Rapids our buildings should be 12 to 30 story's high or more come let's create the best capital city .
Old town and Rep town should have restaurants and entertainment where groups can perform yearly the base ball stadium should be converted also into a high school football field for the playoffs during State playoff plus soocer season we have nothing but bars downtown open up the vision here .
@Ponceybaby I'm not sure who you're replying to when you say "you are right". Lansing can't sustain some of the development that you're asking for. It's not a small town mentality it's simple facts when you look at population changes, job growth, and housing prices.
The "build it and they will come" idea doesn't work. It's been tried in China where the country now has whole ghost towns of high rise buildings that are deteriorating due to lack of occupancy to fund any maintenance.
Moving the high school football state playoffs to Lansing would be nice but it's not a game changer. Basketball has their state playoffs in the Breslin Center so it would make more sense to put state playoffs at Spartan Stadium than try to convert Cooley Stadium to a football field.
I do like that you are brain storming about ideas that would add activity and people to places that are empty most of the time. I think having baseball and softball tournaments at Cooley Stadium would be great way to fill the place with more activities. They could be for other amateur leagues not just high school.
It may be a mixed blessing that we have not built any glass tower high rise buildings here. Most of them create an unfriendly street level and dark shadows over the surrounding neighborhood. That being said I do not think 12 stories is really a high rise tower and I think Greater Lansing/E.L. can support buildings of that size. I like our sky line it is unique and recognizable. Have you ever noticed it in candy bar commercial?
@Ponceybaby First of all welcome to the forum, I share your frustrations and agree with you on your premise that our local politicians and business leaders have long suffered from a lack of vision, perhaps with the exception of Mayor Hollister, who got some major things done. I've started typing out a rant on the subject several times only to stop due my inability to properly articulate my opinion without writing novel.
I would argue that the "if you build they will come" model does actually work if you're smart about what you build. I do think that Lansing is largely limited by the vision and capabilities of our local leaders and business community. Even given the modest size of our area we should have more amenities and more built-up urban cores, I don't think 12-30 floor buildings or more downtown retail are at all unrealistic expectations. We've been underbuilt for quite awhile, the boom in hotels and student apartments is a good example of outside developers/investors/banks looking at our area and realizing there's a lot of unrealized potential.
The lack of vision has also come from the government, I would love to see someone like Mayor Hollister again, he got a lot done in his time as mayor. Lansing is still in need of a downtown art museum, a performing arts center and a signature downtown park among other things. I'd still absolutely love to see Impression 5 and the RE Olds museum relocated and vastly expanded while a small local history museum would be a nice touch also.
I have often wondered why the museums which started in those one time industrial buildings as almost a hobby museums, never grew out of those buildings, even while being quite successful. I could see a museum/education/business authority that could develop these museums into new facilities. That could include people from the museums, Lansing Schools, L.C.C.,M.S.U.the State and businesses like G.M, that could financially support this as well. If the casino does happen, some of the funds from that could also be used to finance new history, science, and cultural museums. Get together and think, maybe not big, but first class, that is how I think we should be going in Lansing.
Comments
hah, in my searching I came across a thread from 12 years ago where I was talking about those old signs. @hood is in the thread too;
https://urbanplanet.org/forums/topic/16794-lansing-skyline-early-1900s/
I remember that sign. I saw it on visits home back in the 80's? It was a silhouette and the tower was depicted out of scale with the rest of the sky line. It was the only building back then, at LCC that was identifiable as part of the sky line, I think the people who built it thought it was really cool looking. I think they were in a very small minority.
YES, it was completely out of scale and most people didn't know what building it was until you told them. I'm still trying to find a pic of the stupid thing, even if only for nostalgia's sake.
The City Pulse has a story on this.
Apparently, while the ventilation shaft stopped being used when LCC moved their welding program to their west campus, they will still utilize the internal structure for the Granger Tower clock tower to save money, I guess.
The "build it and they will come" idea doesn't work. It's been tried in China where the country now has whole ghost towns of high rise buildings that are deteriorating due to lack of occupancy to fund any maintenance.
Moving the high school football state playoffs to Lansing would be nice but it's not a game changer. Basketball has their state playoffs in the Breslin Center so it would make more sense to put state playoffs at Spartan Stadium than try to convert Cooley Stadium to a football field.
I do like that you are brain storming about ideas that would add activity and people to places that are empty most of the time. I think having baseball and softball tournaments at Cooley Stadium would be great way to fill the place with more activities. They could be for other amateur leagues not just high school.
It may be a mixed blessing that we have not built any glass tower high rise buildings here. Most of them create an unfriendly street level and dark shadows over the surrounding neighborhood. That being said I do not think 12 stories is really a high rise tower and I think Greater Lansing/E.L. can support buildings of that size. I like our sky line it is unique and recognizable. Have you ever noticed it in candy bar commercial?
@Ponceybaby First of all welcome to the forum, I share your frustrations and agree with you on your premise that our local politicians and business leaders have long suffered from a lack of vision, perhaps with the exception of Mayor Hollister, who got some major things done. I've started typing out a rant on the subject several times only to stop due my inability to properly articulate my opinion without writing novel.
I would argue that the "if you build they will come" model does actually work if you're smart about what you build. I do think that Lansing is largely limited by the vision and capabilities of our local leaders and business community. Even given the modest size of our area we should have more amenities and more built-up urban cores, I don't think 12-30 floor buildings or more downtown retail are at all unrealistic expectations. We've been underbuilt for quite awhile, the boom in hotels and student apartments is a good example of outside developers/investors/banks looking at our area and realizing there's a lot of unrealized potential.
The lack of vision has also come from the government, I would love to see someone like Mayor Hollister again, he got a lot done in his time as mayor. Lansing is still in need of a downtown art museum, a performing arts center and a signature downtown park among other things. I'd still absolutely love to see Impression 5 and the RE Olds museum relocated and vastly expanded while a small local history museum would be a nice touch also.
I have often wondered why the museums which started in those one time industrial buildings as almost a hobby museums, never grew out of those buildings, even while being quite successful. I could see a museum/education/business authority that could develop these museums into new facilities. That could include people from the museums, Lansing Schools, L.C.C.,M.S.U.the State and businesses like G.M, that could financially support this as well. If the casino does happen, some of the funds from that could also be used to finance new history, science, and cultural museums. Get together and think, maybe not big, but first class, that is how I think we should be going in Lansing.