Continuing on my stamp-collecting expedition into the Pinecrest neighborhood, I found this stamp on Rolling Brook Lane north of Red Leaf. At the time it was totally illegible to me, but I took photos in hope that they would make the name visible. Sometimes that works, and this time it did. Once home, I was pretty sure that the first word was Fessler and the second started with a B – likely Bowman, since I am already familiar with Fessler & Bowman. The difference is that all the previous Fessler & Bowman stamps I have found were quite recent, from 2016 and 2017. This one is from the 1960s and based on being able to make out a flat line on top of the last number I am pretty sure it is a 5.
According to the company history on Fessler & Bowman’s Web site, the business started in 1963, so this is one of their early works.
Here, by the way, is the corner of Rolling Brook Lane and Red Leaf Lane. You can see why I initially noted the name of the street as “Rollingbrook.”
This isn’t a unique or especially interesting stamp, but at least I got a moody photo for you. I went for a walk in light rain since it didn’t look likely to let up before bedtime. It actually ended up being pretty pleasant, with a little help from an umbrella. Anyway, this stamp is on the south side of East Michigan Avenue between Holmes and Bingham, in front of Sparrow Urgent Care.
The date on the stamp corresponds with when this building was constructed. It’s part of the shiny new Cancer Center complex, which caused the demolition of Bingham School, as discussed in my entry on another Fessler & Bowman stamp. Fessler & Bowman were evidently involved in the construction.
I find it very peaceful to walk in downtown Lansing late in the evening.
This stamp is on the east side of Bingham Street between Michigan and Eureka. No doubt it dates from the construction of the parking garage that it’s in front of. This was once the site of Bingham Street School (or just “Bingham School” as it seems to have been called in later years). Lansing apparently named all its early elementary schools after the residential streets they bordered, hence Foster Avenue School and Allen Street School. Bingham Street School holds a small but memorable place in my own personal history, as it was my polling location from when I moved to town through 2012. Thus, although I had no other connection with it, I was sad when it got knocked down. It looked so much like my own elementary school that going inside always triggered nostalgia.
The southernmost stamp. I have seen this same stamp template used by several other contractors, as well as the most recent city Operations and Maintenance stamps.
Bingham (Street) School closed in 2012 and was sold to Sparrow Hospital, who wanted the land to expand their cancer center. The school was demolished in July 2013 and if you want to see sad photos of the vacant rooms shortly before demolition – and the rubble afterward – you can find them on the still-extant Facebook page for the school. The local neighborhood was dismayed over the loss of green space, and that leads to another story for another entry, eventually. As for my polling place, it moved across the street to the Pilgrim Congregational Church, and though they seem like nice folks, voting in a church has never felt quite right to me.
Looking north toward Michigan Avenue with the Sparrow garage on the right.
Fessler & Bowman is a bigger company than usually gets featured here. They were founded in 1963 by Don Fessler and George Bowman and originally did residential flatwork and basement walls, but have subsequently become a large commercial contractor. Their corporate headquarters are in Flushing, Michigan, but they also have regional offices in Louisiana, North Carolina, and Tennessee.
The next-to-southernmost stamp. There are a few more spread out along the block but as they all look the same I didn’t bother photographing them all.
