Capital City Sidewalks

Posted on June 10, 2023 by bunnyhugger

W. Montcalm St., Detroit, Nagle Paving Co., 2017

All right, here’s the last of the sidewalk stamps I collected walking to and from the Fox Theatre from a parking lot on Montcalm. This one is from our evening walk back, after having seen Trevor Horn perform as a solitary Buggle in support of Seal. It’s right in front of the 127 W. Fischer lot’s entrance on the north side of Montcalm between Park and Clifford.

I’m disappointed that Nagle Paving Company does not have a company history on their Web site. Their About page says that they have “over 60 years of experience” and that they’re a union shop but that’s about all I can tell you about them. Their main line of business actually seems to be asphalt paving, though they do have a page advertising their concrete installation services.

Odd that so many of the stamps in this area are from 2017 yet are all from different contractors. I would have thought that if a bunch of work (either sidewalk work, or utility work necessitating sidewalk replacement) was being done by the city around the same time they would use the same contractor.

Posted on June 6, 2023 by bunnyhugger

W. Montcalm St., Detroit, Colasanti Specialty Svc., 2017

We’re getting very close to our destination at the Fox Theatre today. This stamp is at the northwest corner of West Montcalm Street and Woodward Avenue, on Montcalm. It’s in front of the City Theatre.

Colasanti’s Web site currently calls them Colasanti Construction Services, Inc., without reference to “Specialty Services,” but some cross-referencing confirms that they are the same company. They were founded in 1953. Their Management Team page lists Angelo Colasanti with the title “Founder,” but it says “Angelo joined the company when it was established by his father, Rocco, in 1953.” Doesn’t that make Rocco the founder? I suppose they could be co-founders, but if Rocco established the company I still think that gives him priority as being the founder. Well, it’s their business, so who am I to say? Just some rando who blogs obsessive about sidewalk markings, that’s who.

Hang on, is that 3/4 of the Beatles up ahead?

Posted on June 3, 2023 by bunnyhugger

W. Montcalm St., Detroit, Rayco Utility, 2017

Here’s another stamp from the Foxtown district in Detroit, on West Montcalm Street at the northeast corner of Montcalm and Park Avenue. It’s next to the Colony Club building (which faces Park).

I can’t tell you anything about Rayco Utility Inc. There’s a Rayco Utility Services based in Troy, but they seem to be a trucking company, so I’m not sure if it’s the same business or not.

Posted on May 27, 2023 by bunnyhugger

W. Montcalm St., Detroit, Thayer, 2020

Continuing my walk from the parking lot to the Fox Theatre in Detroit to the Buggles concert, I saw this stamp. I love how much information is packed into it and how crisp it is. It’s at the northwest corner of West Montcalm Street and Park Avenue, in front of what apparently, prior to 2018 or 2019, used to be the Town Pump Tavern.

According to the history page on their Web site, Thayer Power and Communication (or TPC) was founded in 1964 by David Thayer and his (oddly unnamed) brother. They originally set poles for power and telephone companies. Over the years they expanded into installing telephone, power, and eventually fiber lines. They have quite a few offices but most of them are actually in Ohio.

Posted on May 23, 2023May 27, 2023 by bunnyhugger

W. Montcalm St., Detroit, CES, 2017

My husband and I went to the Fox Theatre in Detroit last night to see one of my very favorite bands, Buggles, open for Seal. That’s why this entry is the very first one for a stamp located in the city of Detroit proper. In fact, I quickly discovered that the Foxtown area hosts a splendid menagerie of contractor stamps, and I had to quit pausing to take a photo of every one I saw or else we would be late for the show.

This particular stamp is on the north side of West Montcalm Street between Park and Clifford, next to a parking lot. I am guessing CES might be Corby Energy Services, which “provides construction, engineering and support services to utilities and related businesses throughout southeastern Michigan, Indiana and Ohio,” especially because this sidewalk block surrounds a utility hole cover.

Posted on May 20, 2023 by bunnyhugger

Let Them Be Green

The March 2, 1971, [Lansing] State Journal, brings us an article with the wonderful headline, “If Sidewalks Must Be – Let Them Be Green”:

South Whitehills residents who have been opposed to sidewalks in their neighborhood since the city ordered them installed two years ago offered a counter-proposal to city council Monday night calling for fewer sidewaks and asking that they be made of green concrete. [. . .] “It’s being done, you know green sidewalks are being made,” remarked Lester Turner, attorney for the Whitehills residents, when council members greeted his green sidewalk proposition with stares.

Whitehills is a subdivision in East Lansing. I tried to do a Google search to find pictures of what, exactly, a green sidewalk looks like, but it was confounded by all the results being about eco-friendly sidewalks rather than sidewalks made of literally green concrete.

I’m not familiar with Whitehills, but the street they were especially opposed to having sidewalks installed on, Whitehills Drive, does currently have sidewalks installed on both sides according to Google Street View, so evidently they lost the battle sooner or later. I find it nearly impossible to get into the headspace of someone who is so opposed to having sidewalks installed in their neighborhood that they would take the matter to court, but that’s why I’m the one writing this blog.

Posted on May 16, 2023 by bunnyhugger

Lathrop St., XMC, 2012

Here’s another one that has been hiding from me in a spot I’ve traveled often enough. I think I can see why: it’s quite worn and probably visible only in good light. It’s on the east side of Lathrop Street, south of Elizabeth.

I have only found one other stamp by this contractor, so this is a rare one. XMC is, by my best guess, short for <guitar-lick>Xtreme Mason Contractors</guitar-lick>, a contractor from Laingsburg. The last digit of the date is a little uncertain but my best guess is that it’s a 2.

Posted on May 13, 2023 by bunnyhugger

E. Michigan Ave., Bond Basile, undated

I might have walked past this one without taking notice a hundred times. It’s on the slab right in front of the IQ Fit building on the south side of East Michigan Avenue, between Francis and Mifflin. The concrete is in especially bad shape here, patched repeatedly with asphalt, so it is lucky that this stamp survives. It is undated, but could date to the construction of the adjacent building in 1959.

I have actually encountered this stamp just one other time, on the front walk of a house on South Pennsylvania, though only the word Basile was legible. Looking back at that one, the placement does suggest another word was probably worn away in front, so it probably also read Bond Basile. Unfortunately, I know nothing of the contractor, despite searching.

The stamp is on the nearest block that touches the vertical siding, facing the road.

Posted on May 10, 2023 by bunnyhugger

Regent St., C. Gossett, 1963

It’s final grading week and I spent last night up until the early hours grading exams and I’ll probably be doing it again tonight, so here’s a late and low-key update. This is from a driveway apron on the east side of Regent Street between Kalamazoo and Elizabeth. I’ve been able to see the date for a while, but recently the name has also suddenly become more visible. It’s hard to see in this photo, but the last several letters are SSETT indicating it is, unfortunately, just a regular old C. Gossett stamp, similar to very many others on this block.

I’ve never been able to learn anything in my research about C. Gossett or find a single reference to them, despite how many sidewalks they laid in around here in the 1960s.

Posted on May 7, 2023May 7, 2023 by bunnyhugger

S. Fairview Ave., O & M, 2015

It’s somewhat unusual to find a dated O & M (city Operations and Maintenance) stamp in any case, but especially rare in the southern reaches of the Urbandale neigborhood. This one is near the dead end (south of Horton, north of I-496) on the west side of the street.