This remnant of a stamp is on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Clifford and Ferguson. Only the faintest impression remains of a date. I caught sight of it on a nighttime walk and I suspect it would only be visible by streetlight; anything brighter would probably completely wash it out. It’s on one end of a set of three slabs of similar composition, likely poured at the same time. All three are lined up on one side of a double-wide sidewalk. The slabs side-by-side with these look to be of a different vintage.

I can’t be sure the date is 1960. It might be 1980. It looks more like 1960 to me and the extremely worn state of it also inclines me to the earlier date.

This is out in front of the driveway of Mercy Ambulance, which surely also has something to do with how worn it is. Mercy Ambulance is a starkly modern building for the block, barnlike, and yet I find it strangely appealing in an ugly sort of way. According to their Web site, Mercy Ambulance was founded in 1955 by Rodney Palmer. As the current President is Dennis G. Palmer, I am assuming it is still in the same family. I thought perhaps the building dated from 1955 and was built for Mercy Ambulance, but that turned out to be incorrect. The city’s records say it was built in 1940. Mercy Ambulance was originally located on Pennsylvania Avenue and, according to an old issue of the Eastside Neighborhood Organization News, moved to this building in 1971.

Prior to Mercy Ambulance moving in, the building (and its attached apartment) belonged to Mundo Faggion Plumbing and Heating. According to a January 24, 1994, obituary in the Lansing State Journal, Armando “Mundo” Faggion founded that business in 1929.