This is another Mount Pleasant digression, an advertisement of the heated sidewalk in front of Anspach Hall on Central Michigan University’s campus, on the east side of South Washington Street between Library Drive and Ottawa Court. I see this stamp all the time on my way in and out from work, and I like the look of the typeface. It’s a very 1970s font, although I believe this was installed during Anspach’s renovation in the 2010s.
Another disappointment, I’m afraid, though at least I aimed the photo to show you some of the Christmas lights I get to enjoy on my walks. These brand new sidewalk blocks are on North Fairview Avenue, at the southwest corner of Fairview and Vine. I passed by here several days ago when the new sidewalk was under a tarp, presumably curing, so I made a point to go back in case I got to see a brand new stamp. I didn’t have high hopes, though. Almost none of the new sidewalk construction I have seen this year has been stamped, with the exception of the Leavitt & Starck sidewalk alongside Allen Place.
The sidewalk in front of the Allen Place project (on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Shepard and Allen) continues to develop, and (as threatened in a previous entry) I think I can now formally induct it into the Hall of Shame. There is no sign any of the new sidewalk is going to be stamped, despite it being required by ordinance in Lansing. What would Alderman McKinley say?
I’m curious about the new jog in the sidewalk. It was previously a straight path here. I wonder what the swerve’s purpose is. I suppose I’ll find out soon enough.
Back in the Capital City now, on the west side of Horton Avenue between Jerome and the dead end, I found this worn, old Department of Public Works stamp. I’ve actually passed it many times before, but the waning light (oh, that early sunset, this time of year!) was raking everything at such a perfect angle that I thought I might be able to make out the illegible date this time.
Now that I have seen it in good light, I think the date marking there is actually a month, May, similar to this stamp nearby which is also labeled “May” with no apparent year. Strange.
It was a beautiful evening for looking at sidewalk markings, anyway. Look at this light.
I happened to walk past and catch sight of workers smoothing out some brand new concrete in front of the Allen Place project, continuing my observations on the progress of Allen Place’s sidewalk. I didn’t see any sign of stamping yet, sorry to say. I’m afraid this is almost certainly going to end up a Hall of Shame candidate.
I’ve been watching this sidewalk being replaced in front of the Allen Place (née Allen Neighborhood Center) development, on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Allen and Shepard. I’m pretty sure it’s going to end up being a Hall of Shame candidate, since even more has gone in since I took this photo and there is no sign of any stamp yet, but I suppose until it’s completely finished I can’t say so definitively. Anyway, it’s still interesting to get to see a new sidewalk slab from the side. I wonder if they’re always this thick.
Spots like this, where the sidewalk curves in to avoid an obstruction that is no longer present, are fairly common, but I notice them every time. I always wonder what was there and how long it’s been gone. I usually figure it’s a tree (because I have seen spots where the sidewalk does curve just like this for a tree), although this would be a somewhat odd placement for a street tree.
The driveway apron used to be narrower, as I can see from an old tax assessor’s photo, so apparently when it was widened the contractor added a little piece to fill in part of the semicircle.
This bit of sidewalk is on the north side of Hickory Street between Pennsylvania and Euclid. I walked this block for the first time this evening, so get ready for several days of Hickory photos.
This graffiti on the east side of North Fairview Avenue between Saginaw and Grand River got my attention because of the lettering style. Most sidewalk graffiti is just plain lines. This one’s hollow block lettering is unique and ostentatious. The grass clippings from a recently mown lawn were giving it a little extra definition.
I didn’t notice the + at first and thought it was just four letters, TKSD, but when I looked at my photo later I realized it was a declaration of love: “TK + SD.”
On Wednesday evening I walked past a spot where the bed for a new sidewalk had been prepared. I hoped it would be my chance at last to see a brand spanking new stamp, hours old. Instead, I returned on Thursday evening to the disappointing sight of a completed and unstamped sidewalk. I really need to have a word with the Director of Public Service about the proliferation of scofflaw contractors.
The new sidewalk is in front of a vacant lot on the east side of South Magnolia Avenue between Michigan and Prospect. If I’m judging this correctly, this stretch of walk originally fronted a small 1914 house that was demolished in May 2021. A similar one was also demolished one lot north, in 2015, and the gap is occupied by one of the ubiquitous urban farms that serve as the Ingham County Land Bank’s favorite all-purpose hammer.
I wanted to get a photo of a stamp in front of Westlund’s Apple Market (on the north side of East Grand River Avenue between Hayford and Foster). Unfortunately, there were no visible stamps on either the Grand River or the Foster side of the property. There was, however, a stretch of clearly new sidewalk with no stamp. For shame. Alderman McKinley is turning in his grave.
Westlund’s is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, but it wasn’t always in this location and it wasn’t always Westlund’s. It started as Mike’s Market at on Washington Avenue downtown, then became Mike’s Shop-Rite, part of the former local consortium that also included the lost, lamented Goodrich’s Shop-Rite. Mike’s moved in here, at the edge of the Groesbeck neighborhood, in 1957. Timothy Bowman has a scan of their grand opening advertisement.
According to their page on Nextdoor.com, the transition to the new name happened when Mike Wickenhiser Jr., son of the original owner, decided to retire, and sold the business to longtime employee Gerald Westlund in 1986. Westlund continued to run the store as Mike’s until 1998, when it was renamed Westlund’s Apple Market. Gerald Westlund’s kids run it now. When I moved to town in 1999, I remember seeing circulars for Westlund’s Apple Market in my mailbox. At the time I had no idea the name was so new. I wondered then, and still don’t know, why it’s called the Apple Market.
Since Goodrich’s and the L&L Food Centers went away in the 2010s, Westlund’s is the last old-fashioned grocery store in town. They have the best potato salad in town and the third best I’ve had (after DelGrosso’s Amusement Park’s and my mom’s, in that order). They also have a spaghetti salad that always goes over well when I bring it to potlucks. I like going in there just for the old time, homey vibe, with the bonus that it’s always easy to park and easy to get in and out when I only need a few things.