My first idea for naming this blog post was, "Watching Downtown Come Back to Life," but that's not really correct, since it never really
died, per se. When I was in high school in the late 1980s, the Monroe Mall area, as well as most of S. Division, was pretty derelict and desolate, though. Not Soviet derelict, but no one went there for fun, and you weren't tempted to stroll down S. Division unless you were on a mission to find drugs or illicit sex. When Herpolsheimers closed in 1987, there was a misguided attempt to make it into a mall, but that soon failed. Downtown was not the place to be. Many, if not most Grand Rapidians were resigned to seeing their city turn into another waning Rust Belt casualty. Having lived for awhile in Detroit, it's almost miraculous to see it bloom again today and to watch people stroll about, eat things, and be genuinely excited to be there and witness what is happening.
Who would have thought
that cool Art Moderne building Junior Achievement abandoned would get a makeover and a chance to shine again? It sat there empty so long, still beautiful, still interesting under layers of grime and broken glass block. And there is TowerPinkster today, occupying it with pride.
Devos Place turns ten this month. Having a safe location was no doubt as asset for the owners, but there wasn't nearly as much to see and do downtown a decade ago. Van Andel was there, the Gerald R. Ford Museum was there, but ArtPrize wasn't even dreamed of, the brewery culture hadn't taken off, and the Grand Rapids Art Museum was still over on Division in the Federal Building that was
purchased and renovated by Kendell College of Art and Design. It was rededicated in June of this year and looks fantastic.
Turn and look the other way down Division, and it's all new as well. Van Andel Institute, Betty DeVos Children's Hospital, and a completely re-terraced Hillside park have banished any rundown feel on the right side. Michigan St. has been transformed as well. What was a local scene of gas stations, houses, and stores, is now a wall of glass containing a series of state-of-the-art medical buildings. It's hard to remember what the old Butterworth Hospital looked like or that Calvary Undenominational Church once took up nearly a whole block on Michigan.
Travel the S-Curve and you'll see cranes looming over the city and buildings being wrapped like Christmas presents. The new Grand Valley
Seidman Center has taken the place of an old warehouse, but that whole Pew Campus is brand new, not to mention the shiny YMCA building. Follow the S-Curve and the
Custer building salutes you, and the
renovated Founders Brewing Company peeks out over her shoulder. Drive a little way further and you can peek into the greenhouses of the new Downtown Market.
It's almost like a brand new city! What are your memories of the Grand Rapids that used to be?
I remember the sound of the Civic Theatre green room before the remodel. You could hear the rain on the metal roof before going on stage. Or the abandoned roller rink/radio station on the upper floors of the building.
ReplyDeleteI remember having my senior pictures taken in the Crow's nest in the amphitheater. I remember wondering how the hell that organ in the old museum ever fit into the mansion on Lake Drive. I remember the Pen Club and what the who's who drank for their usual luncheons and fundraisers. Downtown_is a lot better than 10-15 years ago but the names and money that have shaped it into what it is are not all sun and cuddles.