Jump to content

Medical Mile/Michigan Street Developments


joeDowntown

Recommended Posts


It's not up yet, but it looks like they are going to put it above the Michigan State University sign. It definately will not be large enough to be seen from I-96. Unless you have a 20X or more zoom camera :D

3855925733_b0682c011c.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/johne777/3855...57621789687697/

Da no credit man,

~John

They could put it to the left where the gray unfinished area is currently. Plenty of room there for a big block S. Then again, they might have just decided to go with the sign that is there currently. Only time will tell... One thing for sure, we can all be glad it's Michigan State in our city and not some other school with a lousy football team. :)

Edited by FloridaSpartan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They could put it to the left where the gray unfinished area is currently. Plenty of room there for a big block S. Then again, they might have just decided to go with the sign that is there currently. Only time will tell... One thing for sure, we can all be glad it's Michigan State in our city and not some other school with a lousy football team. :)

eastern?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They could put it to the left where the gray unfinished area is currently. Plenty of room there for a big block S. Then again, they might have just decided to go with the sign that is there currently. Only time will tell... One thing for sure, we can all be glad it's Michigan State in our city and not some other school with a lousy football team. :)

You are correct - it will be installed to the left of the current signage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

michigan has one down year, and the state fans come out of the woodwork proclaiming them to be the next big ten powerhouse. i suppose its poor of me to shoot down their disillusions, but sorry, staties. its downhill from here. you still have basketball though!

as for the building, i do agree, a nice big ole S would do wonders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

michigan has one down year, and the state fans come out of the woodwork proclaiming them to be the next big ten powerhouse. i suppose its poor of me to shoot down their disillusions, but sorry, staties. its downhill from here. you still have basketball though!

as for the building, i do agree, a nice big ole S would do wonders.

As a graduate of both MSU and UM, I can say this for sure. U of M fans are very touchy and can't often take much ribbing about the football team. I guess it's difficult to laugh when the team is not ranked in the top ten year in and year out. Speaking of which, I think the Wolverines have had at least two really bad years....

When I've watched games (in Colorado) with the UM alumni group, no one is having a good time unless Michigan is beating the other team by 20 points, at least. With the MSU alumni, they seem to be having a good time no matter what (unless, of course, the team is losing big to OSU or UM). Observations from someone with a foot in both camps.

Anyway, I'm going to love seeing the big, green block letter S prominently displayed in downtown GR next time I visit. It's time either MSU or UM really noticed West Michigan and GR in particular.

Edited by Explorer55
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a graduate of both MSU and UM, I can say this for sure. U of M fans are very touchy and can't often take much ribbing about the football team. I guess it's difficult to laugh when the team is not ranked in the top ten year in and year out. Speaking of which, I think the Wolverines have had at least two really bad years....

When I've watched games (in Colorado) with the UM alumni group, no one is having a good time unless Michigan is beating the other team by 20 points, at least. With the MSU alumni, they seem to be having a good time no matter what (unless, of course, the team is losing big to OSU or UM). Observations from someone with a foot in both camps.

Anyway, I'm going to love seeing the big, green block letter S prominently displayed in downtown GR next time I visit. It's time either MSU or UM really noticed West Michigan and GR in particular.

well, michigan is the winningest program in college football. its one of the top 3 richest programs in history. everyone knew it would take a while for richrod to turn things around, but when the product hit the field, no one wanted to admitt it. of course, michigan fans are looking for a better season, and i dont think its a stretch to think they may be in a bowl this year. i keep hearing whispers that they could contend for the big 10 title in 2010. but thats IF this years recruiting class is as good as they say it is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

well, michigan is the winningest program in college football. its one of the top 3 richest programs in history. everyone knew it would take a while for richrod to turn things around, but when the product hit the field, no one wanted to admitt it. of course, michigan fans are looking for a better season, and i dont think its a stretch to think they may be in a bowl this year. i keep hearing whispers that they could contend for the big 10 title in 2010. but thats IF this years recruiting class is as good as they say it is.

:offtopic:

I've never understood this argument "...it would take a while for richrod to turn things around..."

Lloyd Carr had a 75% winning percentage (better by 2% than Michigan's long term average), he won 5 Big Ten titles an a National Championship.

He left while his program was on top, beating the SEC's highly touted Florida in a bowl game.

This wasn't some turnaround program just looking for a chance. It was the strongest college football program in history (by % and total wins), beating the SEC (which nobody else in the Big10 seems capable of doing) and winning championships.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the big green S is appropro.

BTW: UofM is entering a big partnership with Metro Health and VAI for cancer treatment and research. They can't stand being underrepresented in West Michigan, apparently. :)

Was this announced recently? I think that's a great idea - and it moves medical research in this state in the best possible direction. With the whole "heart transplant" controversy that started a few months ago, I was worried that Health Hill and U of M would enter into an antagonistic relationship, when they should really be teaming up with each other. I hope this partnership is the beginning of more intra-state cooperation.

Speaking of the heart transplant issue, WZZM just posted some good news today: A legal loophole allows Spectrum to move forward with its Certificate of Need for a heart transplant program, without having to disturb the rest of the state. I think if this goes through, we will up our medical street cred immensely.

:offtopic:

BTW Irony, I like how you completely fed yourself right into Explorer's statement about U of M fans being touchy. :P

Edited by RegalTDP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Was this announced recently? I think that's a great idea - and it moves medical research in this state in the best possible direction. With the whole "heart transplant" controversy that started a few months ago, I was worried that Health Hill and U of M would enter into an antagonistic relationship, when they should really be teaming up with each other. I hope this partnership is the beginning of more intra-state cooperation.

Speaking of the heart transplant issue, WZZM just posted some good news today: A legal loophole allows Spectrum to move forward with its Certificate of Need for a heart transplant program, without having to disturb the rest of the state. I think if this goes through, we will up our medical street cred immensely.

:offtopic:

BTW Irony, I like how you completely fed yourself right into Explorer's statement about U of M fans being touchy. :P

I think that the relationship between the University of Michigan and Grand Rapids has historically been a little distant. U-M has been tied to the Detroit area, geographically and financially, for most of its history. Plenty of Grand Rapids kids have attended the U over the years, but the growth of MSU in the 1950s siphoned off some of that stream and anyway, kids from the GR area were always a small percentage of the overall student population. I think that GR is perceived in Ann Arbor, rightly or wrongly, as provincial, overly religious and conservative. (Of course, that could define how Ann Arbor folks perceive much of the state.)

With the revitalization of GR, and the growth of the Medical Mile, perceptions can change, and we may see a different attitude from the "arrogant -ssholes," especially now that an ugly green "S" blazes in the night sky from Casa Secchia.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:offtopic:

I've never understood this argument "...it would take a while for richrod to turn things around..."

Lloyd Carr had a 75% winning percentage (better by 2% than Michigan's long term average), he won 5 Big Ten titles an a National Championship.

He left while his program was on top, beating the SEC's highly touted Florida in a bowl game.

This wasn't some turnaround program just looking for a chance. It was the strongest college football program in history (by % and total wins), beating the SEC (which nobody else in the Big10 seems capable of doing) and winning championships.

the amount of seniors graduating certainly didnt help, nor did a 100% change of the offensive system. the wolverines went from a straight ahead running game / dropback passing game to the spread offense. takes a few years for that to take shape. should be better this season. even if lloyd stayed, the team would have had a huge down year.

and i know i appeared touchy. but i can assure you i never was upset or angry behind the computer screen. its all good fun.

Edited by ironyisadeadscene
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what are the chances then, that Spectrum could be come a transplant hospital? Why would the other in state institutions care if they were made one? Is it a competition thing? I think it's outstanding, more and more we need things like this to make us a health care destination!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what are the chances then, that Spectrum could be come a transplant hospital? Why would the other in state institutions care if they were made one? Is it a competition thing? I think it's outstanding, more and more we need things like this to make us a health care destination!

Sorry if you already know most of this, MJLO, but I mainly post this for everyone here who hasn't been following this issue. If Spectrum can get this accomplished, I think this will be an important step for the Medical Mile.

My understanding of the issue is (correct me if I'm wrong):

(1) For a Michigan hospital to be allowed to perform transplants, they need to obtain a certificate of need from a state regulatory board.

(2) Michigan state law has capped the maximum number of certificates at 3. The reason for this is because transplant-certified hospitals need to perform a certain number of transplant operations annually to be proficient at them, and too many certified hospitals would spread them too thin. Currently, all 3 transplant-certified hospitals are in Detroit or Ann Arbor (U of M, Henry Ford, and Detroit Children's).

(3) In January, Spectrum began lobbying the state regulatory board to allow a certificate of need for a 4th hospital, so West Michigan patients wouldn't have to leave the region to get a transplant. All the prominent GR business leaders/politicians/etc. expressed their support.

(4) Understandably, the Detroit hospitals put up a big stink about this, especially U of M (which performs the most operations of the three, BTW), because they don't want to lose their West Michigan patients.

(5) A few days ago it was realized that the state has actually only issued 2 active certificates, since Henry Ford and Detroit Children's share the same certificate. Beaumont in Troy, which holds the third, does not perform transplants anymore, so their certificate is up for grabs. Spectrum can now pursue it without having to change state law.

(6) Eventually Spectrum will have to convince the state regulatory board why West Michigan needs this before they get a certicificate. My understanding is that all of the doctors on the board are from Detroit, so our region's needs are not well-represented.

Edited by RegalTDP
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well my uncle does transplants for Kidney's and if I am not mistaken its only his group that he works for and the U of M that does the others. So I am pretty sure they had to go through the same people and they got one. I would think that with the aspect that VAI was given a small amount of the tobacco settlement that was also given to Ford and U of M that some pressure could be put to bare if they start to balk. On top of that MSU and U of M are active in the GR region so it would not be good to lose the support of this area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

It looks like they are almost done with the stairs for Crescent Park.

Also looks like they are almost ready to open up North bound Division Ave. to Michigan Street.

The Van Andel Institute Phase II is really beginning to look like a finished product on the outside.

I just can't figure out what the hold up is with getting the middle windows in at the Secchia Center. They have them in on the North side but not the South and West sides.

Last time I was up on Michigan, it looks like they are getting close to having the parking ramp under the future 35 Michigan building done. So looking forward to the start and finish of that building. It is amazing how fast the Medical Mile is springing up. Next Spring will be an awesome time for getting shots of the completed outside of the buildings.

Here is the latest VAI Webcam shot:

http://www.vai.org/About/Facilities/~/medi...tion091809.ashx

~John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.