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E. Michigan Ave., Able, 1999

This garden variety Able stamp is on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between Horton and Clemens, in front of the Capitol Macintosh/Lansing Central AA building. This is a couple of doors east of the City Pulse building and their respective Able stamps are probably siblings.

This isn’t related to the stamp, but I have a fun story about Capitol Mac. A couple of years ago my elderly MacBook was having issues with the touchpad. I’d had some unpleasant experiences with Capitol Mac, but I felt guilty going to the Apple Store instead of supporting a local business, so I thought I would give them one more chance and dropped my computer off with them. A few days later they called to say that they had a break-in and one of the things stolen was my MacBook. I got paid $300 (the value of my aged computer) and then proceeded to go through way more than $300 worth of grief trying to put my digital life back in order. The rest of that story also involves a really bad experience with the Apple Store, so no one comes out smelling like roses in this. But that’s enough about that. Back to this spot on Michigan Avenue.

Facing northeast. I think the stamp is on the bottom edge of the photo, on the nearest partial block, though it’s not possible to make it out.

This is another instance of a storefront built in front of an old house, common on this stretch of Michigan. The house, as far as can be seen, is a large and handsome Victorian. According to the city’s parcel records, it was built in 1889. The records claim that the office space was also built in 1889, but I find that hard to believe.

Capitol Macintosh moved in here sometime in the 2000s, having previously been located in Frandor under the name Eubulus. Around that time the office building, previously a plain box, had a cosmetic overhaul, giving it a gabled entrance and faux gables on the sides, as well as eyebrow details over the side windows. These elements were chosen to match the house, albeit in an amusement-park sort of way.

A search through the [Lansing] State Journal turns up (ready for it?) two car dealers previously at this address, Stratton Sports Cars (October 1, 1961) and Precision Imports (July 1, 1969). Ads throughout 1980 offered the space for a beauty parlor, implying it was set up as one in the 1970s sometime. I also see from some mentions in the social pages that it was the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Horn in the 1950s. Most interesting to me is that on November 27, 1926, there is an advertisement for Faggion Plumbing and Heating at this address. I previously wrote about Mundo Faggion Plumbing and Heating as the former occupant of the Mercy Ambulance building, but Mr. Faggion’s obituary claimed that his business was founded in 1929. Either that date is incorrect or they are not the same business, although surely they are at least related.

The city’s records have (undated) accounts for a few other businesses using the address: Tax Lien Inspection Company, First Hand Impressions, Advanced Computer, and Creative Touch Hair & Nails Design.

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E. Michigan Ave., “Bill” graffiti, 2006

This small, almost modest bit of graffiti is in front of Bill Leech’s Repair Service on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between Clemens and Fairview. I am going to assume that Mr. Leech himself did this, absent evidence to the contrary.

Bill Leech’s Web site unfortunately does not give a history of the company and I can’t find much about them searching the Lansing State Journal. They have certainly been located here since before I moved to the city in 1999, and Open Corporates gives their incorporation date as October 19, 1983 (under the name Bill’s Appliance Service Center, Inc).

The stamp in context, in the corner of the block below the pot of Coleus plants and lamp post.

I really like the midcentury look of the storefront with its stone siding and angled doorway. According to the city’s parcel records, it was built in 1950. Prior to that, in the 1940s, there was… any guesses? Anyone? Yes, you are correct: there was a car dealer here, Ron LeButt Auto Sales. I first see an ad for Modern TV Center in the October 12, 1954, State Journal. The latest ad for Modern TV that I can find ran on August 1, 1970.

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E. Michigan Ave., Ameri-Construction, 1987

This stamp is on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Shepard and Allen, in front of Tannin. The “7” appears written on after stamping, though whether it is covering up an outdated number or is just reinforcing a number that didn’t print well, I can’t tell.

Tannin is an upscale Italian fusion restaurant, not the kind of place that appeals to me so I haven’t been there. It replaced the original location of a small local Mediterranean fast food chain called Tabooli, which was one of the go-to lunch spots for my husband and me. (Tabooli still has two other locations, but they aren’t as convenient for us.) Tabooli had opened in 2014 after renovating a former KFC. I was glad they did, because seeing that KFC inevitably made me think of the name that had gotten indelibly attached to it in my mind: “the Murder KFC.” In 2011 an employee was killed during an armed robbery. I’m not sure whether it ever opened again after the murder, but it had certainly been abandoned for some time before Tabooli moved in.

Awnings or not, it still kinda looks like a KFC.

The building only dates to 1987 according to the city’s parcel records, but there was a KFC at that address at least as far back as 1968, per an advertisement in the State News (MSU’s student paper) on December 7. The only previous mention of that address that I can find is in a news brief in the August 18, 1955, [Lansing] State Journal:

$10 Stolen – Lansing police detectives are Investigating the burglary of the Pure Oil station at 1620 E. Michigan Ave. Wednesday evening. Detectives said the burglars gained entry through a window and stole $10 in coins from a vending machine.

Since the date of the stamp matches the construction date of the building, it seems possible that the sidewalk repair and the building’s construction were linked.

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E. Michigan Ave., Eastlund Concrete, 1970

This is my new earliest Eastlund Concrete stamp. It’s on the north side of East Michigan Avenue between Ferguson and Holmes.

This building was constructed in 1972, according to the city parcel records. It was a Goodyear service center which had its grand opening in March 1973, and closed sometime in the 2010s. It has stood there looking sad ever since. In 2019 the building was sold to the expanding chicken heart known as Sparrow. I don’t know what they are doing with it. It appears to have some miscellaneous junk stored in the service bays, and the windows on the retail side are covered up.

The view east on Michigan Avenue. The stamp isn’t really visible here but is at the lower right corner of the photo.
This is the eastern end of the building.

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E. Michigan Ave., Able Concrete, 1998

This pair of stamps is in front of the building that houses The People’s Kitchen on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Charles and Detroit. I previously covered a Hanneman stamp near these. The east side of the building is occupied by The People’s Kitchen; the west side currently houses JWR Health Services.

The eastern stamp. The Hanneman stamp is just out of frame below this, facing the other way.
The eastern stamp, and a pleasantly weathered bench.
The western stamp.
The western stamp in context, and JWR Health Services.
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E. Michigan Ave., BBRPCI, 1988

After I did a stamp in front of Mercy Ambulance, I figured I would follow up by doing one in front of the Medical Arts Building one block east, on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Ferguson and Holmes. As with Mercy Ambulance, there is something about the starkly modern building that appeals to me. In this case, the oversized caduceus on the front face, though a controversial choice, is certainly a large part of the charm.

I hadn’t realized that this building is owned by Sparrow Hospital, though I wasn’t very surprised to learn it, either. This whole area of downtown Lansing is the land of Sparrow Hospital, and it continues to spread. A clipping from the October 25, 1963, State Journal (courtesy of fellow local history enthusiast Timothy Bowman and his very useful Flickr site) has a photograph of it with a caption saying it “is expected to be completed this week.” (The city’s property records give a construction date of 1964.) The caption goes on to say “It is the largest building of its kind in the Lansing area.” In the photograph it looks just as it does now (minus some rust stains), proving the vintage of the giant caduceus, if there were any doubt. It does not appear to have been a Sparrow property at the start. I’m not sure when Sparrow acquired it.

Looking southwest at the Medical Arts Building. The stamp is located just past the tree whose branch can be seen on the right.

The stamp is from BBRPCI, who have stamped quite a lot of sidewalk on this part of Michigan Avenue. I was hoping to find a stamp contemporary to the building, but no such luck. There are a few blocks of especially coarse concrete that look different from and older than most of the surrounding sidewalk, so maybe those are remnants of the original construction.

Looking west on Michigan. The stamp is on the lower left block, facing the other way. Note the two coarser blocks left and right of center.

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E. Michigan Ave., illegible name, 1960?

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.

The stamp isn’t visible in the photo; I’m standing roughly over it.

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.

The stamp is on the second full block away from the camera, facing the other direction.

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.

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E. Michigan Ave., B & B, 1986

I like a good, deep stamp like this one, as they’re more likely to stick around for some future sidewalk stamp cataloguer. They also just look nicer. The subdued illumination of the street light made some nice shadows on it.

This stamp is in front of the vacant former Wright & Filippis building on the south side of Michigan Avenue, between Clifford and Lathrop.

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E. Michigan Ave., unsigned, 1987

I ran across this date without a name on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Ferguson and Clifford. The placement of the date at the lower right is reminiscent of a BWL stamp, but they usually stamp their name at the lower left. I don’t see any remnants of a name at the lower left corner, but it’s worn, so I can’t rule it out.

The lower left corner.

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E. Michigan Ave., L & L, 1998

This one is in front of the vacant lot at the southwest corner of East Michigan Avenue and Charles Street, which puts it just outside the Lansing city limits in Lansing Township. It’s on the apron of one of the two driveways that used to lead into the parking lot of Theio’s diner.

Most people interested enough in Lansing to read this blog probably already know all about Theio’s, but for the sake of anyone else, it was a 24-hour diner that had been a neighborhood fixture since the 1960s. It was the only 24-hour diner in this part of town and for at least some part of my time in Lansing it might have been the only one, period. I was in there countless times, probably starting in 1999, when this stamp was still pretty new. My visits there spanned two husbands and several circles of friends. It was at its best in the earlier years, though there was an especially happy period for a few years in the 2010s when a crowd of people from the Lansing Pinball League would usually go there for conversation and hijinks after league got out.

In 2017 a new owner bought the place and it went very rapidly downhill. After a short time it was sold again, and things got even worse. The newest owner fired most of the longtime employees (and apparently forgot to get the social media passwords first, because their official Facebook page started to post angrily and entertainingly against the new ownership for a little while), the service got worse, and they started to cut back on offerings (one of the league folks tried to order a waffle and was told they had sold the waffle machine). At some point they turned around and sold it to yet another owner; Then the really unfortunate change happened: they quit being 24 hours and switched to serving breakfast and lunch only. A good chunk of their business came from the post-bar crowd and other night owls, so this was a bizarre move. Once that happened, it ended our pinball league after-parties and I never went there again. The end was very near at that point.

In March of 2018, Theio’s was condemned by the township building inspector for electrical issues. It never reopened. In October, the owner, probably encouraged by the real estate speculation that has been going on in this neighborhood, demolished the venerable restaurant and tried to put the land up for sale for something hilarious. I seem to recall it was listed for something laughably high, like $400,000, but don’t cite me on that. It’s not currently for sale as far as I can see, so it just sits there looking sad and reminding me of what I’m missing – what everyone around here is missing.

RIP Theio’s. Your coffee was as strong as a day-old kitten, but your French toast was faultless.