I have nothing new for the blog right now but while poking around looking for old sidewalk news, I did run across a piece from the June 26, 1993, Lansing State Journal Opinion pages lamenting the death of real estate developer Walter Neller at the age of 89. It calls him “legendary” and ends by saying that “his imprint on Lansing remains for generations to come.” Yet the only accomplishment they mention in the brief memorial is his history keeping the downtown sidewalks clean: “Early in his career, Neller swept a city walk clean as a downtown bakery employee. Later, he paid a worker to brush the Washington Avenue concrete.”

I confess I knew nothing of Neller, but the Michigan State University Archives has his family papers, and they provide a biography there. I note that he was a founder of the defunct Lansing Civic Players, formerly housed in the fire station on Michigan Avenue (now Brenner Heating & Cooling).