That kid should have been more careful steering that horse to the well... it looks like they almost wrecked! I don't think they started installing antilock brakes on horses until well into the 1920s...
I believe this is walking to your turning to your left (west) upon entering the building? It's crazy to me I never realized there were windows along the back side of the building. lol I'm trying to remember what covers them up, now, but can't quite visualize it. Possibly it was bricked up when they built the House of Representatives office building right up to the back of the building. But, it might just be a giant set of curtains back there now and I've just never paid attention when I've been at city hall. It's also sort of interesting how small the photo makes the lobby look, at least the smaller version of the photo; maybe it's the back being opened.
Also, Ann Street Plaza over in East Lansing in 1990.
There used to be a building next door of similar architecture the was called the Board of Water and Light Building which may have had a connection to City Hall. You could pay your bill there and bring in burnt out lightbulbs and they would replace them with BWL stamped lightbulbs. I do not remember much about City Hall back then except the fountain was really cool and loud!
Yep, they used existing frame of the old BWL Headquarters for that half of the new House or Representatives Building. What I couldn't remember is if the old building was built right up to the lobby, and it must not have been because you can see the windows and light coming in through the back.
The City Pulse did an article on the existing state of city hall a few months ago (ostensibly to try and sell the idea of selling the building) where they discussed a few things they've changed in the building over the years. I'll see if they mentioned anything about this back wall. I do remember them talking about a stairwell off the lobby that they blocked off for some reason leading to a room they can no longer reach. I'll see if that had anything to do with the old BWL Building next door.
EDIT: Here it is, though I'm still not sure where this staircase is/was from this description:
In 1958, a grand double staircase overlooking a fountain and an equally grand escalator, to the right of the staircase, ushered visitors up to the Ingham County Circuit Court, visible through a glass wall.
Construction of the state legislative offices next door, to the north, cut this space off like a giant meat cleaver.
Now the stairway leads to a blank white wall and a closed-off platform that houses old Christmas decorations.
The article mentions a gap between city hall and the house office building next door, and you can see that gap in the photo above. But you don't see the staircase or escalator.
Stocker pointed to the blank wall. The space between the city and state offices is still an odd little DMZ with fuzzy jurisdiction. A city-owned vault, now containing court records, is buried under the state’s side of the line.
“That’s our stuff, and that’s their stuff, and you sort of have this void in between,” Riel said.
“We still can’t turn off one bank of lights because the switch is on the other side,” Stocker said.
Here is the "gap" today; the part of the building the background is part of the House Office Building:
I still have no idea what was "cut off" with the construction of the building next door, though, and I've been in the lobby quite a few times. Whatever they did is hidden pretty well, because I've never noticed any "dead" parts of the building.
As an adult I was only in the building for an extended time was when I served jury duty, it was a trial for a man who shot and killed a Lansing Policeman at Frandor. I am pretty sure the two buildings were connected which may have been a basement passage.
Now I'm obsessed with trying to figure out where this staircase and escalator were and how it leads to "nowhere." lol It seems like the story in the Pulse conflates about ten different things all at once speaking about a fountain, a stairwell, an escalator, a vault under the old BWL building, etc. but not really telling you where any of those things were or are in the current building. The pictures don't help, either. That you said the old BWL building was connected to City Hall is a big clue, however, concerning them mentioning the underground vault on "their" (the BWL) side of the line. The stairway and escalator, though, I have no idea.
I've been in there a few times, for court, to the jail (no, I wasn't arressted. lol), to the clerk's office, and taking a family member to pay some taxes at the tax office right off the lobby. So, whatever you see right upon entering is all I've seen in the lobby. It sounds like they do a helluva good job hiding what's been covered up along the back of the lobby, but I can't remember if they block it of using curtains or an actual wall. I don't recall seeing any glass at the back of the lobby. What's clear is that the old staircase and escalator would have to run east-to-west or vice versa length-wise, because that's really the only way it could work.
I am pretty sure the escalator went up behind the fountain which was a one story high wall of water falling into a rectangular pool. Think the BWL tower is separated from the City Hall tower and that there was a window wall behind the escalator in other words on the north side of the lobby. I seem to remember the lobby was full of light and sound from the waterfall. I am not a big fan of the new building next door, City Hall and the State building show up in Michael Moore's ad for his new movie btw!
Okay, that really does make things more clear. I was picturing the fountain as having been some ground-level thing only, that was boarded-over and made into a platform or something. I wonder if a wall was built along the line the water used to drop down or if they hung a curtain? I can't quite tell from the photo above, though it looks like a wall. I also wonder what was done with the back window-wall looking out onto the "alley?"
Guess I'll just have to go in one day to find out; I hate having to go in through the metal detector these days, though. They also basically ask you what your business is there, these days, which is ostensibly for them to say they are being friendly/helpfuly, but like in a department store, it's basically meant to keep you from wandering around and so they can keep an eye on you.
All I need to find out now is if the escalator rose west-to-east or east-to-west, and where did it end at the top? They mention the circuit court, but I'm not sure if they were in a different part of the building than the district court.
I've really come to appreciate the building over the years. As small a city and metro area as Lansing was when it was built, it really had no reason being built, which is something I didn't realize until fairly recently. While some of the larger cities in the state have their old city halls, none of them are grand. And of the few that have modern city halls, the only other's that have grand ones are Detroit and Grand Rapids, and both of those are combined city-councty buildings/complexes. It's a big reason why I'm so resistant to this rush to move out of the existing building, because I know the relacement would be a non-descript office building fronting on a surface parking lot. There would be no grand lobby, no grand plaza. I'd like to see the city update our existing city hall in phases now that city finances are better than they've been in years. One year do the energy inefficient windows, the next fix the underground garage, the next fix the roof, etc.
If I remember the lobby was just an nice area to pass through, the escalator was on the west side of the room going up to the east where there was a mezzanine lobby for the elevators. The water fell sort on the wall and into the pool in a wall of water that came from the top of the wall. It was really cool, it was too loud for any office in the lobby area. Too bad about all the security they do not do that at the Capitol Building.
Comments
That kid should have been more careful steering that horse to the well... it looks like they almost wrecked! I don't think they started installing antilock brakes on horses until well into the 1920s...
This is looking southeast at the eastern side of the 100 block of South Washington. All those buildings are still there.
I believe this is walking to your turning to your left (west) upon entering the building? It's crazy to me I never realized there were windows along the back side of the building. lol I'm trying to remember what covers them up, now, but can't quite visualize it. Possibly it was bricked up when they built the House of Representatives office building right up to the back of the building. But, it might just be a giant set of curtains back there now and I've just never paid attention when I've been at city hall. It's also sort of interesting how small the photo makes the lobby look, at least the smaller version of the photo; maybe it's the back being opened.
Also, Ann Street Plaza over in East Lansing in 1990.
There used to be a building next door of similar architecture the was called the Board of Water and Light Building which may have had a connection to City Hall. You could pay your bill there and bring in burnt out lightbulbs and they would replace them with BWL stamped lightbulbs. I do not remember much about City Hall back then except the fountain was really cool and loud!
Yep, they used existing frame of the old BWL Headquarters for that half of the new House or Representatives Building. What I couldn't remember is if the old building was built right up to the lobby, and it must not have been because you can see the windows and light coming in through the back.
The City Pulse did an article on the existing state of city hall a few months ago (ostensibly to try and sell the idea of selling the building) where they discussed a few things they've changed in the building over the years. I'll see if they mentioned anything about this back wall. I do remember them talking about a stairwell off the lobby that they blocked off for some reason leading to a room they can no longer reach. I'll see if that had anything to do with the old BWL Building next door.
EDIT: Here it is, though I'm still not sure where this staircase is/was from this description:
http://lansingcitypulse.com/article-15964-Tales-from-the-dripping-slab.html
The article mentions a gap between city hall and the house office building next door, and you can see that gap in the photo above. But you don't see the staircase or escalator.
Here is the "gap" today; the part of the building the background is part of the House Office Building:
I still have no idea what was "cut off" with the construction of the building next door, though, and I've been in the lobby quite a few times. Whatever they did is hidden pretty well, because I've never noticed any "dead" parts of the building.
As an adult I was only in the building for an extended time was when I served jury duty, it was a trial for a man who shot and killed a Lansing Policeman at Frandor. I am pretty sure the two buildings were connected which may have been a basement passage.
Now I'm obsessed with trying to figure out where this staircase and escalator were and how it leads to "nowhere." lol It seems like the story in the Pulse conflates about ten different things all at once speaking about a fountain, a stairwell, an escalator, a vault under the old BWL building, etc. but not really telling you where any of those things were or are in the current building. The pictures don't help, either. That you said the old BWL building was connected to City Hall is a big clue, however, concerning them mentioning the underground vault on "their" (the BWL) side of the line. The stairway and escalator, though, I have no idea.
I've been in there a few times, for court, to the jail (no, I wasn't arressted. lol), to the clerk's office, and taking a family member to pay some taxes at the tax office right off the lobby. So, whatever you see right upon entering is all I've seen in the lobby. It sounds like they do a helluva good job hiding what's been covered up along the back of the lobby, but I can't remember if they block it of using curtains or an actual wall. I don't recall seeing any glass at the back of the lobby. What's clear is that the old staircase and escalator would have to run east-to-west or vice versa length-wise, because that's really the only way it could work.
I am pretty sure the escalator went up behind the fountain which was a one story high wall of water falling into a rectangular pool. Think the BWL tower is separated from the City Hall tower and that there was a window wall behind the escalator in other words on the north side of the lobby. I seem to remember the lobby was full of light and sound from the waterfall. I am not a big fan of the new building next door, City Hall and the State building show up in Michael Moore's ad for his new movie btw!
Okay, that really does make things more clear. I was picturing the fountain as having been some ground-level thing only, that was boarded-over and made into a platform or something. I wonder if a wall was built along the line the water used to drop down or if they hung a curtain? I can't quite tell from the photo above, though it looks like a wall. I also wonder what was done with the back window-wall looking out onto the "alley?"
Guess I'll just have to go in one day to find out; I hate having to go in through the metal detector these days, though.
They also basically ask you what your business is there, these days, which is ostensibly for them to say they are being friendly/helpfuly, but like in a department store, it's basically meant to keep you from wandering around and so they can keep an eye on you.
All I need to find out now is if the escalator rose west-to-east or east-to-west, and where did it end at the top? They mention the circuit court, but I'm not sure if they were in a different part of the building than the district court.
I've really come to appreciate the building over the years. As small a city and metro area as Lansing was when it was built, it really had no reason being built, which is something I didn't realize until fairly recently. While some of the larger cities in the state have their old city halls, none of them are grand. And of the few that have modern city halls, the only other's that have grand ones are Detroit and Grand Rapids, and both of those are combined city-councty buildings/complexes. It's a big reason why I'm so resistant to this rush to move out of the existing building, because I know the relacement would be a non-descript office building fronting on a surface parking lot. There would be no grand lobby, no grand plaza. I'd like to see the city update our existing city hall in phases now that city finances are better than they've been in years. One year do the energy inefficient windows, the next fix the underground garage, the next fix the roof, etc.
If I remember the lobby was just an nice area to pass through, the escalator was on the west side of the room going up to the east where there was a mezzanine lobby for the elevators. The water fell sort on the wall and into the pool in a wall of water that came from the top of the wall. It was really cool, it was too loud for any office in the lobby area. Too bad about all the security they do not do that at the Capitol Building.