E. Kalamazoo St., Leavitt & Starck, 2021

I have to issue a partial retraction to my Hall of Shame entry on the Allen Place project (on the north side of East Kalamazoo Street between Shepard and Allen). I had believed that no sidewalk marking was left anywhere on the Kalamazoo side of the building when the new sidewalk was laid. Recently, however, I discovered that there is one solitary stamp in the expanse, located not in the main sidewalk path but on the pavement next to the curb, oddly facing the curb instead of the building. The stamp is, in fact, right in the area that I saw being installed and photographed for a previous entry.

Let’s say I will put an asterisk by the Hall of Shame entry. I still think there should be more stamps for a project this big. By convention, stamps are placed at the start and end of a run of new sidewalk, though that is not required in Lansing (the code here merely says they must stamp wherever they are directed to by the Director of Public Works).

The stamp is in the lower right of this photo.

Hall of Shame: Allen Place Project

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.

Sidewalk construction, E. Kalamazoo St.

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.

Hall of Shame: Unstamped sidewalk on Allen St.

I’m inducting this unstamped stretch of new sidewalk into the Hall of Shame. It’s located on the east side of Allen Street north of Kalamazoo, in front of the new Allen Place development. Contractor, your name is not upon the walk.

Strange that this one is unstamped, when the new sidewalk on the Shepard Street side of the building, laid late last year and earlier this one, is very neatly marked by Leavitt & Starck.

Shepard St., Leavitt & Starck, 2021

Here’s a new one – both a new contractor for me and a new date. It’s on the west side of Shepard Street north of Kalamazoo, alongside the former Allen Neighborhood Center, which is currently transforming into a mixed use development called Allen Place.

This stamp is on the south end of the new sidewalk.

Leavitt & Starck Excavating, Inc., is based in Ovid. It was founded in 2011 by Dean Leavitt and Tom Starck. They must be involved in the Allen Place project.

The sidewalk curves at one point to avoid tree roots.
This is midway along. Oddly, there is no stamp to mark the north end of the new stretch of sidewalk.