Rowe Hotel- Olds Manor

[Veloise]

Are you kidding?

Yes. There are barricades and the contractor's sign, but nothing silly.

[Allison Slater]

I took a close look at the building the other day, and I could really only notise one small fragment of the cornice that seemed to fall apart. I could not find any faults elsewhere on the building.

Crumbling buildings is not exactly uncommon. If you look closely at the cornice on the Southern side of the Pantlind, you will notise that there is missing decoration in a few places. The Moose Lodge building (currently some soup kitchen) on S. Division has a missing moose head. For a while we had a building on Ionia short one gargoyle. Even the Wrigley Building in Chicago has experienced an occasional fit of dropping parts onto the sidewalk. (reference: Chicago Architecture 18??-1940 at the Ryerson Library when I return it.)

Money has been being spent to patch up holes in the building, and there is apparently already a crew out there patching up the exterior. I think we may have jumped to conclusions about this situation, and I believe they are doing what they feasibly can to at least preserve the building in its current state until they know what they are going to do with it.

[Eridony]

You can see a piece is missing on the right side of the photo, I don't know if that's new or old though.

Along with its new neighbor

[joeDowntown]

DeVos made a statement that he didn't believe the Rowe was anything special and didn't know whether it would be renovated or demolished. That's not a huge vote of confidence in my books.

Joe

Money has been being spent to patch up holes in the building, and there is apparently already a crew out there patching up the exterior. I think we may have jumped to conclusions about this situation, and I believe they are doing what they feasibly can to at least preserve the building in its current state until they know what they are going to do with it.

[Allison Slater]

You can see a piece is missing on the right side of the photo, I don't know if that's new or old though.

That's the spot. All other damage and missing chunks on the building that I notised have been that way for a while.

Granted, they said they don't know if they will demolish or rennovate, but I really don't think this is a case of demolition by neglect. Keep in mind "rennovate" is the other half of that "or," and certainly they are maintaining the building to keep that option open.

[joeDowntown]

It doesn't hurt to be vigilant and let people know that some people don't want to lose another historic site in GR. This forum is a powerful tool to let the powers that be know where people stand on issues.

Joe

That's the spot. All other damage and missing chunks on the building that I notised have been that way for a while.

Granted, they said they don't know if they will demolish or rennovate, but I really don't think this is a case of demolition by neglect. Keep in mind "rennovate" is the other half of that "or," and certainly they are maintaining the building to keep that option open.

[Quercus]

I love that last shot, Eridony! No need to demolish the city's historic buildings to bring great new projects in. They can get along just fine.

[Eridony]

I love that last shot, Eridony! No need to demolish the city's historic buildings to bring great new projects in. They can get along just fine.

Thank you! That's my favorite as well because it shows the new and the old coexisting. A city is a living history and I really hope the Rowe Hotel is preserved to tell future generations that history.

[blueradon]

I would like to see something developed already on that site whether it has to be demolished or not. I don't think (and maybe I'm crazy for saying this) it fits into that area with all the new things being built and neighbors such as DeVos Place, Bridgewater/Riverhouse, and all the development on Mich Ave.

There is so much potential for that area for something great to be built (especially if GR Press would get the heck out of there).

[tombarnes]

"I don't think (and maybe I'm crazy for saying this) it fits into that area with all the new things being built and neighbors such as DeVos Place, Bridgewater/Riverhouse, and all the development on Mich Ave."

This building is certainly worth saving. One might ask instead whether or not the new structures complement the Rowe. I have no doubt that this building may represent something of a challenge, but I think its retention is important.

[jbr12]

Anyone that has seen the inside would certainly believe this building is worth saving. I'd rather see the building sit empty for another 10 years than see it demolished. The details that are still intact will never be constructed again due to the skilled labor being virtually non-existent and 'ornamentation' not fitting into a developer's bottomline

[Quercus]

The only part of the Rowe I'd like to see go is the ugly rooftop gray box with the words "olds manor."

Demolish the press building and post office? Heck yes!

[Eridony]

I don't think (and maybe I'm crazy for saying this) it fits into that area with all the new things being built and neighbors such as DeVos Place, Bridgewater/Riverhouse, and all the development on Mich Ave.

Well it's your opinion so I won't call you crazy, but I disagree about it not fitting in because of its newer neighbors. I love seeing new and old buildings side by side, it's a nice contrast and it shows you that there is a history to the city. When I see buildings that were all built at the same time it's normally in areas that were previously greenfields which had no previous structures to work around.

I think it's so cool seeing that Lutheran church on Michigan. All the buildings around it are brand new and it sits there showing it's endured longer then all its original neighbors and will continue to endure.

Also, I agree with Ridetherapid about that gray box on the roof. Was the sign painted on there? It looks as if they made the sign by only rustproofing the letters and letting the rest decay around it.

[rkarnes]

Any recent news on possible future scenarios for this building? We love this old building, too, and, in fact, lived on the top floor there in a corner apartment that overlooked Monroe and Michigan and the Calder stabile just a few years after it was installed. What a view! Other Olds Manor employees and their families lived there in the mid-seventies, too, when it was a respected retirement residence operated by the American Baptist denomination. There were some breathtakingly beautiful architectural features inside the building then, and both employees and the retired residents told fascinating stories of the building's history (including organized crime mobsters accessing its underground tunnels and other legendary -- and maybe even true :-)?! -- tales). We certainly hope the bulding will be somehow preserved.

[GRDadof3]

Any recent news on possible future scenarios for this building? We love this old building, too, and, in fact, lived on the top floor there in a corner apartment that overlooked Monroe and Michigan and the Calder stabile just a few years after it was installed. What a view! Other Olds Manor employees and their families lived there in the mid-seventies, too, when it was a respected retirement residence operated by the American Baptist denomination. There were some breathtakingly beautiful architectural features inside the building then, and both employees and the retired residents told fascinating stories of the building's history (including organized crime mobsters accessing its underground tunnels and other legendary -- and maybe even true :-)?! -- tales). We certainly hope the bulding will be somehow preserved.

I haven't heard anything recently, other than MSU buying the GRPress building next door.

[twoshort]

Probably a better thread for this:

 

http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2014/12/new_life_for_long-vacant_olds.html

[GRDadof3]

Renders.  Glad to hear they're looking at starting as early as Spring 2015.

 

 

 

 

 

[GRDadof3]

I'll also say that it would've been cool if it included the post office, but who knows when that will change hands and MSU is going to be going full bore on their project through 2015-16-17. Good timing anyway.

[MJLO]

GTFO that's awesome!  One of your predictions for 2015 that was announced a couple days before.  How many apartment/condos proposed and or under construction are we up to now?

[wingbert]

Boffo!  Is this still under there?  

 

Rowe Basement Parking

 

 

[egrguy]

I love that they are actually market rate apartments. This is a great location, I imagine they'd move pretty fast. I know if I was in the market I'd be interested. I like the idea of retail, it just seems very distanced from the rest of DT's retail unless it would be a pharmacy?

[GRDadof3]

GTFO that's awesome!  One of your predictions for 2015 that was announced a couple days before.  How many apartment/condos proposed and or under construction are we up to now?

 

I guess I did make that prediction. I was half right! This might even be the "game changer" claim made earlier this year, now that I think about it (and who said it).

 

There are no condos proposed as far as I know. I've lost track of the number of apartments. Over 1500 units now probably?

[Gorath]

There are no condos proposed as far as I know. I've lost track of the number of apartments. Over 1500 units now probably?

 

M-live reported, "The proposed project will include approximately 9,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, 77 market-rate one- and two-bedroom apartments on floors three through 9, and a limited number of condominiums on the 10th and newly created 11th floor."

 

No mention of what is going in on the 2nd floor.

 

Edit: Doesn't the Rowe only have 8 floors? (Not counting the basement or that roof top metal box.)  Not sure where they are getting 10 floors from.

[GRDadof3]

M-live reported, "The proposed project will include approximately 9,500 square feet of retail and restaurant space on the ground floor, 77 market-rate one- and two-bedroom apartments on floors three through 9, and a limited number of condominiums on the 10th and newly created 11th floor."

 

No mention of what is going in on the 2nd floor.

 

Ah, that's right. And I think the BOB tower will have some condos as well on the top floors.

[walker]

Boffo!  Is this still under there?  

 

Rowe Basement Parking

 

 

 

I'd guess no.  I suspect that this was part of an old canal bridge that went under Michigan Street before the Rowe Hotel was built.  Here's a link to a Press photo that shows the remnants of the bridge when Michigan Street was redone in 2001(?):

 

 http://imgick.mlive.com/home/mlive-media/width960/img/grandrapidspress/photo/2014/05/-43b55749590711c6.JPG

 

It kind of matches.  Back before urban renewal I remember there was some kind of parking garage for the hotel on the south side of Michigan.  Don't know for sure but I suspect there might have been a ramp down to the old bridge.

 

EDIT:  Gerret Ellison at Mlive just a little while ago dug through the Press archives in response to a commenter (not me) and pulled up this old clipping from 1949 that confirms my guesses:

 

 http://media.fyre.co/ewVHCNkZST2FL8ChagjV_Photo%20Dec%2030,%205%2045%2053%20PM.jpg