Hey, what's that (and other miscellanea)?

[Raildude's dad]

That's the story my dad told as well.  My dad worked as a teenager during the depression for a man that operated a chicken slaughtering house (1 job was driving truck out of state (Elkhart IN) at 14 ). His sisters worked in one of the neighborhood grocery's and he knew their boss so between the 2 he was knowledgeable  about the local grocery business.

[Cookin_peacocks]

I noticed a building was demolished on the SW corner of Division and Hall. Any idea if something is going in there?

 

 

[GR_Urbanist]

Here is the site. I wonder if anything good will go there. Hopefully not just a strip mall or a car lot because it's S. Division.

Meanwhile, the renovation to the Salvation Army  building down the street looks to be complete. A very different building.! 

 

 

Edited July 3, 2021 by GR_Urbanist

[Cookin_peacocks]

4 hours ago, GR_Urbanist said:

Here is the site. I wonder if anything good will go there. Hopefully not just a strip mall or a car lot because it's S. Division.

Meanwhile, the renovation to the Salvation Army  building down the street looks to be complete. A very different building.! 

 

 

I hope they plan on a project that can anchor that corner for people there. Mixed use with some good stores and shops would be great.

[GR_Urbanist]

Some small observations today. First, the Rapid Central Station has some tarps over the northern part of the outdoor canopy area. Have no idea what that is about. Maybe just some repairs.

2. The Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. Building on Century SW is having some windows put in. Nice to see it opening to the street.

3. This massive thing was going down Byron Center Rd. @ 28th street in Wyoming. Obviously part of a road project, just not sure where.

[wingbert]

Out for a bike ride recently in the Ada / Cascade area and came across this interesting situation…

This property just north of Koetsiers greenhouse is now gated with signs saying “Property of MDOT No Trespassing”.

What does MDOT want with this landlocked 10+ acre property?  Any ideas?  

 

[Raildude's dad]

The parcel isn't landlocked. Plus there are 2 more adjacent parcels owned by  MDOT.  All purchased for wetland mitigation  for MDOT projects that removed wetlands.  The lands will remain wetlands in perpetuity. 

[Raildude's dad]

Posted in wrong thread:(

Edited July 17, 2021 by Raildude's dad

[54equalsunity]

Some small observations today. First, the Rapid Central Station has some tarps over the northern part of the outdoor canopy area. Have no idea what that is about. Maybe just some repairs.
2. The Owen-Ames-Kimball Co. Building on Century SW is having some windows put in. Nice to see it opening to the street.
http://content.invisioncic.com/x329420/monthly_2021_07/20210714_174101-01.thumb.jpeg.c747a265256f740787e7413ea18e1717.jpeg
3. This massive thing was going down Byron Center Rd. @ 28th street in Wyoming. Obviously part of a road project, just not sure where.
http://content.invisioncic.com/x329420/monthly_2021_07/20210714_111014-01.thumb.jpeg.a857ba89e2040495ba5449119cb33a28.jpeg

Yep, just repairs at Central Station.

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

[HomePortSupplyCo]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:01 PM, GR_Urbanist said:

3. This massive thing was going down Byron Center Rd. @ 28th street in Wyoming. Obviously part of a road project, just not sure where.

Looks like maybe this beam was headed to Manistee for the new M55 bridge?

https://www.manisteenews.com/local-news/article/M-55-bridge-construction-causing-traffic-backups-16333406.php#photo-21267490

[GR_Urbanist]

The old Goodwill on the SE corner of S. Division and Cherry is having some significant work going on inside. The big change is that the exterior windows have been really fixed up.  There is also a for lease sign in the window.

[Winston1206]

Not sure if this is the right thread, but saw this on Reddit. Anyone else heard of this and know the specific location? Was just saying that I can't believe we don't have a real beercade type place in town. 

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/grandrapids/comments/or53pt/new_gymbararcade_coming/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

 

Edited August 1, 2021 by Winston1206

[WMrapids]

On 7/14/2021 at 8:01 PM, GR_Urbanist said:

3. This massive thing was going down Byron Center Rd. @ 28th street in Wyoming. Obviously part of a road project, just not sure where.

Forgot to post this, but I saw this heading towards M6 on Byron Center the other day too.

[droonus2000]

I saw one driving north on 131 Wednesday?, I think. Pretty cool to see something that long driving anywhere. 

 

Speaking of 131, does anyone know what they are working on in the SCurve area?

[54equalsunity]

On 8/7/2021 at 12:52 AM, droonus2000 said:

I saw one driving north on 131 Wednesday?, I think. Pretty cool to see something that long driving anywhere. 

 

Speaking of 131, does anyone know what they are working on in the SCurve area?

I believe it is sign work, because MDOT doesn't waste enough money. It's slated to last through mid-September.

[ZAP!]

I was scrolling around the parcel viewer (as one does) and noticed an oddity around Belknap Hill.

 

There's an alley that by all means should be called Bradford Alley or similar, but is instead called Mohrhardt Street. I couldn't find any nearby Mohrhardt St that it could be a continuation of, and it's only a few plots long, so I don't see why it would have been given a unique name. Of note, it also has addresses designated to it, which other alleys don't seem to have.

Any ideas? Maybe a particularly egoistic city official named it after himself, but not so egoistic to use a real street?

Pardon my extremely long screenshots.

Edited August 29, 2021 by ZAP!

[Allison Slater]

While the plot map shows it in place of the Bradford Alley, Google Maps shows it further north, close to where More St. would be if it continues. Mohrhardt when pronounced, it's first syllable is synonymous with "More." Perhaps it was originally one stretch of street with More St., but was cut off by the railroad when built, and one end ended up becoming just "More St." (which seems a very odd name for a street).

[Allison Slater]

Interestingly, this area seems to be adjacent to, but not a part of the Mohrhardt addition, according to this 1888 Sanborn map. And the railroad seems to predate the street. 

[Allison Slater]

It first appears in the 1895 Sanborn map as "Mohrhards Ct.", lining up perfectly with More St. which also first appears in this map. Today, this isn't where More St. is. The west end of it matches, but it angles downward to where this map shows Flat St, and Flat St. west of Highland Park is now More St.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4114gm.g04023189501/?sp=1&r=0.465,0.569,0.424,0.277,0

[Allison Slater]

1913 is our first close-up look of the street in this Sanborn map. This puts the street North of where the Parcel mapper shows it (the alley on the right) and south of where Google Maps puts it (the alley on the left.) It seems all that remains of the street to this day is a driveway.

 

Edited August 29, 2021 by Allison Slater

[Raildude's dad]

Railroad came thru in 1857ish. The RR for the most part has deeds to the property, not easements.  The area is a recorded plat thus the name as chosen by the proprietor, probably named Mohrhard . You also found a mistake on parcel viewer. The Court was vacated in 1996.  The large parcel to the east is now owned by the state land bank. The description also refers to the vacated court. 

[Cookin_peacocks]

Was this originally supposed to be a skywalk over Sheldon that never happened?

 

 

[jonrapley]

2 hours ago, Cookin_peacocks said:

Was this originally supposed to be a skywalk over Sheldon that never happened?

 

 

Its actually the remain of a skywalk that was taken down not too long ago. From my understanding it had not been used in years. 

[Cookin_peacocks]

19 minutes ago, jonrapley said:

Its actually the remain of a skywalk that was taken down not too long ago. From my understanding it had not been used in years. 

Now that you mention it, I VAGUELY remember it.

 

It still shows up on Google maps

[wingbert]

On 9/17/2021 at 2:16 PM, Cookin_peacocks said:

Now that you mention it, I VAGUELY remember it.

 

It still shows up on Google maps

You’re right!  The google streetview car must’ve driven through right after it came down.  Orange barrels are still there and everything.