Grand Rapids Then and Now

[GRDadof3]

While crusing around on Youtube, I came across a cool video showing the history of the architecture and growth of the downtown area set to a very famous jazz tune.

Im sure many of us have seen alot of the photos that are shown but there are a few that may be new to many here. Enjoy!

Urbanist,

Check out this in the coffee house:

http://www.urbanplanet.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=23861

[GR_Urbanist]

Doh!!!!

Must go to coffee house more often!

[civitas]

I just found my copy of the 1971 Grand Rapids Riverfront Plan. The primary tasks were to expand the convention center (Civic Auditorium), find a home for the Civic Theater and suggest uses for the west bank. The Civic Theater was proposed for the site that is now the Ford Museum.

The plan was done by JJR of Ann Arbor and Wold, Bowers, DeShane & Covert (now Beta) of GR.

Looking east on Pearl before the Grand Plaza was built.

[GRCentro]

Wow, that is very interesting. Thanks civitas!

What prevented this plan from coming to fruition?

[MJLO]

wow that's pretty awsome, thanks urbanist.

[torgo]

Does that say "Gas" there next to what is now 5/3, as in gas station??

[GRGyp]

I'm glad they never went with that design. It looks like they were trying to recreate "Grab Corners" by cutting off Monroe at Lyon and forcing traffic to turn and go to Campau. While the plan would have created a huge pedestrian area in the middle of DT, I think the traffic problems it would have caused around that area would have discouraged foot traffic from entering that area.

Plus I prefer road traffic along side foot traffic in a downtown setting, provided that their is ample sidewalk space. The city feels more alive that way.

*sniff* The old "Hall of Justice". I still can't believe they tore it all down and evicted Superman, Wonder Woman, and the rest of the Justice League.

Edited June 2, 2006 by GRGyp

[civitas]

Does that say "Gas" there next to what is now 5/3, as in gas station??

That building was originally the home of the Michigan Consolidated Gas Company.

[FilmMaker]

This thread has prompted several old memories for me:

The old Speedrome race track!! I remember riding around the track in Jim Hertebese's race car (I forget how to spell his name). He used to run at Indy in the late 50's/early 60's. I was born in Indy, but moved here a few years later. There are still several film industry folks in GR who can tell hours of stories about the Speedrome from their experience with Car & Track Productions - a GR production company thrived here for many years and filmed races all over the country. I think all their footage is still archived somewhere - but can't recall where. Many of their old films were broadcast on the Speedvision cable network in recent years.

The old Herp's elevated train ride! Actually this reminds me of the days when Wurzburg's and Steketee's were the primary shopping destinations in GR. In the mid-late 60's, both stores (on what is now Monroe Mall) would have animated window displays at Christmas (like the classic Marshall Fields in downtown Chicago. I remember riding the escalators from floor to floor and loving it. It's where I recall getting fitted for my first Cub Scout uniform.

Speaking of old stores downtown - Obviously what is now the Forslund condos (across from the Amway Grand on Pearl) used to be Forslunds furniture - but does anyone remember when this was a Sears store? They had the Auto center (tires and batteries) were sold in a garage in the basement level. You drove down a ramp into the bowels of the bldg. I think some of the structure that is still there goes back to the Sears days.

Here's one more: anyone remember the old Woolworth's where the Comerica Bldg now stands (SW corner of Monroe and Monroe Center - south of Grand Plaza and west of new Marriott - across from the Mackay Tower)? It was the classic polished tile exterior of that era and was the center of any photograph taken looking northwest on the original Monroe street. It had a really cool soda fountain and lunch counter with spinning stainless stools. I can remember going there for lunch with my dad when he was getting WZZM's television operations first started - which were at the time located in the bottom few floors of the Grand Plaza (then the Pantlind) where the 1913 Room currently is located. I would sit on those stools and spin gleefully while they cooked my hot dog or cheeseburger.

I'll probably date myself even more with this comment: I can remember when Monroe (the block between the Grand Center and Vandenberg Plaza) was filled with old movie theaters (pre I196 and US131). I was pretty little at the time.

Finally, the planner in me is struck by the fact that the new transportation hub is almost exactly where the old train station used to be. As visionary as many of us often like to feel - history has a way of both repeating itself and teaching us valuable lessons about how little some things actually change in the really long term. People's behaviors and the driving forces in society don't evolve as radically as some would like us to believe. The fact that we are now pondering light rail in the metro area (probably hubbed in this same spot) only serves to make this point more salient.

Another classic example is the recent notion that we should introduce boating uses to the riverfront. Fact is, the Grand River used to sport paddlewheelers that carried people all the way to Lake Michigan. In a very mixed-metaphorically sense (pun intended) "what goes around - comes around" - it sometimes just takes a very long time... and requires us to patiently endure the follies of those who stubbornly chase fleeting trends over time. Today's "visionaries" might find some very valuable guidance in what truly worked here during the bustling periods of the past 200 years.

[GRDadof3]

Thanks for the memories filmmaker!

Nice image civitas. A couple of questions:

What was the proposed cluster of buildings where Bridgewater now stands?

What are the two tallest buildings, one along Pearl with the parking ramp to the South, and the other one just to the East on the "plaza".

I agree that cutting off the N/S (Monroe) and E/W (Pearl) axis would have made downtown very labyrinth like. Can you imagine giving someone directions in that proposed downtown? Yikes.

[FilmMaker]

Anyone who frequented the bars in the 70's will remember the old Bavarian nightclub which was located in the area now consumed by Bridgewater. Nearly every band of any local fame played that dive weekly. I witnessed alot of bar fights in that place.

The Bridgewater footprint also was home to the original Sullivan's Carpet store (a veritable landmark on the river front in those days). There was also one of the city's greatest little snow ski shops buried in that cluster. Anyone remember the name of the ski shop? It had a sort of bavarian architectureal theme to it as I recall.

[mpchicago]

If I'm looking at this correctly, it appears that the SW corner of Pearl and Campau, as depicted in this 1970's sketch, is not far off from what the corner will look like in the next few years.

[6th Gen local]

Anyone who frequented the bars in the 70's will remember the old Bavarian nightclub which was located in the area now consumed by Bridgewater. Nearly every band of any local fame played that dive weekly. I witnessed alot of bar fights in that place.

The Bridgewater footprint also was home to the original Sullivan's Carpet store (a veritable landmark on the river front in those days). There was also one of the city's greatest little snow ski shops buried in that cluster. Anyone remember the name of the ski shop? It had a sort of bavarian architectureal theme to it as I recall.

Actually the Bavarian was on the South side of Bridge St. where the Ford Museum North parking lot currently stands. I mentioned that in some other thread on here recently. It was the bar to go to in the late 70's.

I do remember Sullivans being in that area on the North side of Bridge and the ski shop, wasn't that the original location of Bill and Pauls Sporthaus before they moved to the Burton and Breton area and eventually East Paris?

[mpchicago]

Actually the Bavarian was on the South side of Bridge St. where the Ford Museum North parking lot currently stands. I mentioned that in some other thread on here recently. It was the bar to go to in the late 70's.

I do remember Sullivans being in that area on the North side of Bridge and the ski shop, wasn't that the original location of Bill and Pauls Sporthaus before they moved to the Burton and Breton area and eventually East Paris?

Bill and Pauls was on E Fulton near Carlton before moving to East Paris. Don't know if they were anywhere before that?

[6th Gen local]

Bill and Pauls was on E Fulton near Carlton before moving to East Paris. Don't know if they were anywhere before that?

Thats right on the Fulton Street address. I sometimes get a little mixed up in that neck of the woods, especially when trying to remember things from 10-20 years ago.

[GRGyp]

Anyone remember the name of the ski shop? It had a sort of bavarian architectureal theme to it as I recall.

Was it a possible store location for the old Bavarian Village ski shop franchise out of Detroit?

[john_denver]

I am pretty sure Bill and Pauls started in Eastown (where CVS is now), moved to the Carlton/Fulton street store and then to East Paris. I beleive they had a second store in Eastbrook Mall but as for downtown, I don't know.

[FilmMaker]

I stand corrected, the Bavarian was indeed on the south side of Bridge street. I think comments that the ski shop was called Bavarian Village are correct although I don't recall any connection outside of GR for the store.

I don't know of Bill & Paul's having a presence in Eastown but I do recall spending most of my disposable income at the time in their store in Eastbrook (now Centerpointe) mall. This would have been mid 70's.

[LA Dave]

I stand corrected, the Bavarian was indeed on the south side of Bridge street. I think comments that the ski shop was called Bavarian Village are correct although I don't recall any connection outside of GR for the store.

I don't know of Bill & Paul's having a presence in Eastown but I do recall spending most of my disposable income at the time in their store in Eastbrook (now Centerpointe) mall. This would have been mid 70's.

I remember the Bavarian. My friend Chuck called it the "Barvarian". Ah, memories.

[destijl]

Could the ski shop have been the Skompt Shop? I'm not sure of the spelling, but I vaguely remember it.

[mpchicago]

The Bridgewater footprint also was home to the original Sullivan's Carpet store (a veritable landmark on the river front in those days). There was also one of the city's greatest little snow ski shops buried in that cluster. Anyone remember the name of the ski shop? It had a sort of bavarian architectureal theme to it as I recall.

If I remember correctly (as a 9 old) Sullivan's was a 3 to 5 story Italianate structure with all of it's windows covered up and the entire building painted a Kelly green! Does that sound accurate?

Edited June 5, 2006 by mpchicago

[6th Gen local]

If I remember correctly (as a 9 old) Sullivan's was a 3 to 5 story Italianate structure with all of it's windows covered up and the entire building painted a Kelly green! Does that sound accurate?

As a 18-21 year old in the late 70s I vaguely remember Sullivans as being a kelly green building. Too many beers at the Bavarian clouds my memory to tell you the truth.

[joeDowntown]

7/10/1995 - Weston / Grandville - Now the Navigant and Williams Distributing Building.

I'm still trying to figure out this dang scanner so please forgive the blurry picture.

Joe

[joeDowntown]

7/10/1995 - Bistro Bella Vita anyone? I hear it has a great atmosphere.

Joe

[GRCentro]

Wow, thanks joe. That is almost unbelievable!