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E. Michigan Ave., ACD, 2023

This is the last of the new stamps I collected while walking back to my car from the Silver Bells 5K race downtown. It’s in front of the former Troppo restaurant, now apparently something called “The Gov.” It’s on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between Washington and Grand.

I assume this was done by ACD (Advanced Communications and Data) the broadband Internet company while doing utility work for businesses in the area. And that’s it for my banked stamps, so I’ll have to start finding some more. I actually spotted one more possible new stamp on that walk, but someone was milling around it messing with their phone and I would have felt weird walking close to him to take a photo of the sidewalk, so I had to give up on that one.

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E. Michigan Ave., Dykstra, 2009

Somehow I walked by at least three contractor names I had never seen before on my way back to my car from the Silver Bells 5K. I was parked in front of the Lansing Center and the race was downtown, so that wasn’t a very long walk. I like the lettering style on this one. It’s on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between Washington and Grand, in front of the former Troppo (now apparently something called “The Gov”?).

So go on. Guess what part of the state Dykstra Cement Contractors hails from. Write your guess down. I’ll wait. If you at least guess the area code I’ll give you partial credit. The answer is after the picture.

Dykstra Cement is headquartered in Hudsonville, metro Grand Rapids. They’re still in business, but their Web site doesn’t give a company history, more’s the pity.

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E. Michigan Ave., John C. Wallace, 1994

Today’s stamp is new to me (and this blog). I found it – and a few others, which will make their appearances in the next entries – while walking back to my car after participating in the Silver Bells 5K. It’s on East Michigan Avenue at the northwest corner of Michigan and North Washington Square, in front of the beautifully ornate former City National Bank building now occupied by a Comerica branch. The date is a little hard to read but I think it is 1994, which does fall within the timeframe during which I can ascertain that John C. Wallace Cement Contractor was in business.

The earliest reference I can find to the business is in the 1985 directory of the Michigan Association of County Drain Commissioners. An advertisement places them on Van Dyke in Utica (Google says the address is actually in Shelby Township). The latest I can find is in a 2011 bankruptcy petition by Bing Construction Company of Bloomfield Hills; they are named as a creditor.

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E. Michigan Ave., BWL, 2023

Tonight was Silver Bells in the City, which I haven’t missed attending in years, and while walking between the Lansing Center (where we parked) and the car, I found another 2023 stamp, this one from BWL (the Board of Water and Light). It’s on the north side of East Michigan Avenue, west of the Lansing Center and east of the river.

This stamp matches the style of one I found that had a somewhat obscured date that I took to be either 1987 or 1997. I ended up settling on 1987, but now I wonder if it wasn’t 1997 after all. Other 1980s BWL stamps have a bolder, rounded typeface that I find much more pleasant.

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Regent St., EPM, 2023

Here it is: some brand new sidewalk! The Consumers Energy utility work that has closed a lane on East Kalamazoo Street off and on for months has finally reached the stage when a lot of the torn-out sections of sidewalk are being replaced. And, while it’s not the most exciting design I’ve seen, it is all properly stamped. This is just one of many examples, in this case on the southeast corner of Kalamazoo and Regent, in front of the vacant former Lucky’s/Pure Options.

I am assuming that the responsible party is EPM Professional Grounds Services of Jackson, Michigan. The name stands for Executive Property Management, referencing the fact that they specialize in commercial properties.

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Kipling Blvd., Brown Const., 1988

On a pleasant early-afternoon walk in search of Halloween decorations, I came across these stamps from a contractor I haven’t noticed before. They are on the west side of Kipling Boulevard between Lasalle and Fernwood. There are two, a short distance apart, which means they probably marked the beginning and end of a section of new concrete.

One of the stamps has a date stamped underneath, though faintly enough that I thought it was undated until I looked at my photo afterward. My phone tends to put a lot of contrast on photos and that popped it out. Curiously, the other stamp has a much clearer but handwritten date.

I don’t know anything about Brown Construction, but I wonder if it is this contractor in Grand Ledge that Yelp reports as closed.

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Hall of Shame: Unstamped “Bum Walk” on Jerome

I finally got a chance to walk up to Jerome and Horton to see the bum walk people have been complaining about on the Eastside Facebook group. Several curb cuts along Jerome on Horton and nearby streets have been reconstructed recently, and it does not appear that any of them were stamped by the contractor so that they could take credit (or possibly, in this case, discredit) for their work.

The northwest corner of Jerome and Horton.

I’m not a sidewalk expert and it’s possible there is nothing wrong with these. The complaint that’s being made is that the approaches are too low, resulting in water pooling around them during heavy rain. To my eyes it did appear that they were lower than the drain at this corner, but again, I can’t be sure. Marking this as a Hall of Shame entry is more to do with the failure to mark them as city code requires.

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Taft St., Cantu, 2002

I made this discovery while walking in and around Bancroft Park recently. It’s on the north side of Taft Street between Ohio and Indiana (Avenues, not States).

I know, you’re thinking, “Another Cantu stamp, big deal.” But look closer! It’s not a dime-a-dozen Cantu & Sons or even a Cantu & (singular) Son, but it’s Cantu simpliciter. While I know that Cantu Builders is the current name of the still-extant company, I had never turned up a stamp without Sons or Son. This is also the most recent Cantu stamp I’ve found, with the previous record-holder being one from 1993. I was beginning to think they didn’t do any sidewalk work after that.

I need to make some more trips into the north side and see what else I can find.

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Bum Walks, 2023 Edition

The scheduled sidewalk stamp for today has been pre-empted so that I can bring you this breaking news: people in the Eastside Neighborhood Organization Facebook group are getting angry about sidewalk construction. It’s true! Wordy tilts about bum walks are not the exclusive province of the 1910s. It’s great watching people get livid about (allegedly) badly-made sidewalks.

I considered coming into the fray to explain that this is why they’re supposed to stamp their names on it, but ultimately thought better of it.

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Ohio Ave., illegible [Buonodono?], 1961

I decided to walk a bit in a different neighborhood, Old Town near Bancroft Park, to try to get some new stamps. I didn’t find anything entirely new there on a short jaunt, but I think this is another instance of the hard-to-read stamp on Elizabeth Street that I thought might read “Buonodono.” Unlike that one (which is undated) this one seems to bear a date of 1961.

It’s on Ohio Avenue near the northwest corner of Ohio and Taft.