Lansing's wish list: Here's what it would take to reinvent the riverfront

Sarah Lehr | Lansing State Journal

Show Caption Hide Caption Using the rivertrail in downtown Lansing Activities along the Grand River in Lansing

This story is the first in a series focused on Lansing's wish list.

LANSING — When Paul Brogan gazes down the Grand River on a summer day, he likes to imagine peering 10 years into the future.

The Lansing native pictures water taxis and a boardwalk atmosphere supported by more shops and restaurants.

That vision motivated Brogan to co-found Rivertown Adventures, a company that provides kayak, canoe and paddle board rentals at the Grand River downtown.

More: We asked, you answered: Readers share their wish lists for Lansing

As a child, Brogan rarely swam or fished in the Grand, viewing it as “just a dirty water basin.” But, the river's reputation has changed.

Brogan says he's seen a steady rise in activity along Lansing’s waterfront since Rivertown Adventures began operating in 2014 near the City Market, which is on the river just north of the Lansing Center and not far from Cooley Law School Stadium, home of the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team.

Brogan’s hopes for the riverfront are not unique. Earlier this summer, the Lansing State Journal asked readers to share their wish lists for Lansing. Many readers called for a more vibrant riverfront. This is the first of an ongoing series that will explore what it would take to grant those Lansing wishes.

Lansing sits at the base of two rivers — the Grand, Michigan’s longest river, and the Red Cedar, which flows through MSU’s campus in East Lansing before emptying into the Grand at Scott Park south of Interstate 496 in Lansing. Sycamore Creek, a tributary of the Red Cedar, runs through southeast Lansing.

Those waterways create headaches when they flood in the spring, but overall they represent some of Lansing’s greatest assets, said Brett Kaschinske, Lansing’s director of Parks and Recreation.

“We are blessed by geography,” Kaschinske said.

For decades, politicians, business leaders and ordinary citizens have dreamed of maximizing those aquatic assets. The Lansing State Journal hosted a riverfront summit in 1993 after publishing a series of editorials that explored a “Grand Vision” for the riverfront’s future. Twenty-five years later, those discussions are still ongoing, but there have been signs of progress.

Change in perception

When architects and planners laid out downtown Lansing in the early-20th century, the Grand River seemed to function as a visual afterthought.

That’s evident from the older buildings that face the Capitol rather than the waterfront, said Wayne Beyea, a faculty member with MSU’s Urban and Regional Planning Program. It’s a common layout in industrial Midwestern cities, Beyea said, where waterways helped power factories and mills.

Car manufacturing fueled Lansing’s boom, but the city now has a more diversified economy that depends on political lobbying, education, health care, information technology and insurance, among other industries.

“The perception of the river changed from just being an industrial utility," Beyea said. "Cities started looking at rivers for the natural aesthetic opportunities."

Former Lansing Mayor David Hollister said the Grand River was “grim” and “nasty” when he took office in 1993. Few people wanted to walk along unlit stretches of the riverbank at night and the dumping of sewage and trash into the water was blatant.

During his first mayoral term, Hollister traveled with a Lansing delegation to Columbus, Ohio, to scout that city’s blossoming riverfront. Both Columbus and Lansing are state capitals located near large public universities. But, there were important differences.

By the 1990s, Columbus was emerging as a small powerhouse with more than 600,000 people, while Lansing was still “plunking along” at under 130,000 residents, Hollister said.

Lansing’s reputation was stagnant as a “mid-level, mediocre, all-American city,” he said. Hollister said his campaign platform included the idea that Lansing could be more than that, it could be a destination. He viewed the riverfront as a key way to achieve that objective.

The city has been working since 1991 on a 30-year combined sewer separation program that prevents sewage from flowing into Lansing's lakes and rivers. Hollister says he is encouraged by the improved water quality and by the potential for regional riverfront collaboration.

"I go there on a Saturday morning and I see joggers jogging and lovers strolling," Hollister said of the Grand River. "They don't care if they start out walking in East Lansing and end up in Lansing. Frankly, the river gives you hope."

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Shared backyard

In higher-density urban areas, public parks and waterfronts function like a shared backyard. Inviting design, like unobstructed views of the water and seating for people-watching can draw visitors to those spaces. Increasingly, cities must think about programming, not just physical structures, said Beyea, also a senior specialist at the National Charette Institute, an urban design program at MSU.

Activities at the downtown portion of the riverfront have met mixed success. Free concerts under the Shiawassee Street bridge have drawn crowds, as have yoga sessions and food trucks near the Lansing City Market just west of North Cedar Street and south of East Shiawassee Street.

The future of the City Market is up for debate, following City Council’s decision to cut a subsidy to the market this fiscal year.

The market, which first opened as a city-owned farmers market in 1909, has floundered in recent years under the management of the Lansing Entertainment and Public Facilities Authority.

Workers tore down an older City Market building, located along the Grand River’s eastern bank, to make room for Pat Gillespie’s Marketplace apartments, the colorful puzzle piece-style building that includes 158 residential units and a bar with riverfront views.

The current City Market building opened in 2010, just south of the former market location.

Lansing Mayor Andy Schor has raised the possibility of selling the land directly under that building — about 11,120 square feet — to a private developer. Doing so would require voter approval according to the city charter because the building, which does not directly touch the water, sits on city-owned parkland. It’s unclear whether City Council will vote to put the potential land sale to the ballot this November.

The city plans to commission an appraisal of the property before the election, the mayor’s chief of staff, Samantha Harkins, said. The mayor is inviting residents to sound off on the market’s future during a public input session at 6 p.m. next Thursday at 625 City Market Drive.

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Work and play

City Council Member Brian Jackson, who represents the 4th Ward that includes Lansing’s downtown west of the Grand River, said he’s still undecided on whether to approve a ballot measure that would let voters authorize sale of the land.

The city could use an attraction in that area, he said, to ensure the downtown becomes a destination for both work and play.

A planned "Rotary Park" could entice more revelers to the area. The park, made possible by private donations from entities including the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation and the Community Foundation, is slated to open by summer 2019 on the stretch of land between the City Market building and the the riverbank.

The design includes a a sand pit, similar to the artificial beach at Campus Martius Park in downtown Detroit.

Auto-Owners Insurance has pledged money for a fireplace and lighted forest at the plaza. The Gillespie Group and Team Lansing Foundation plan to split the cost to sponsor a concerts and events space under the Shiawassee Street bridge.

Another proposal, still in early planning, would add a plaza and permanent stage to Adado Riverfront Park, the site of the Common Ground Music Festival downtown. A firm has submitted a design plan to the city and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing, but leaders have yet to identify a funding source for the project.

Beyea said Lansing’s riverfront improvements have been exemplary, but acknowledged that the area has struggled to stay busy once state workers clear out at 5 p.m.

“It has to become 24/7,” Beyea said. “The downtown has to be more than just the lunch crowd. The city has made some very positive strides in that direction.”

Maximizing space

City leaders point to the opening of the AF Group headquarters in 2011 on the western bank of the Grand River as one such stride.

The insurance company, formerly known as Accident Fund, employs 746 people at its sun-dappled office complex in downtown Lansing. The company spent $182 million to rehabilitate a former Lansing Board of Water & Light power plant and turn the site into its headquarters, an AF spokesman said.

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The offices sit next to a parking garage for employees. Schor, who became mayor Jan. 1, said the inclusion of the parking garage along the Grand River was necessary at the time to secure the headquarters project.

He acknowledged, however, that parking is generally not the best use of prime riverfront real estate.

The city and Lansing Community College each operate parking ramps about a block west of the river near Grand Avenue. There's also a privately-owned ramp that sits directly along the waterfront near Allegan Street on the east side of South Grand Avenue downtown.

"In the future, we should not be putting parking along the river," Schor said.

The mayor said he'd like to see riverfront construction focus on walkable mixed-use buildings that blend residential and commercial developments.

Not just downtown

Although the downtown portion of the river may have the greatest tourist potential due to its proximity to the Michigan Capitol, Radisson hotel and Lansing Center convention hall, the Grand River actually snakes through all quadrants of the city, forming part of the boundaries for Lansing's four political wards.

Two gentrifying enclaves have emerged as hip entertainment districts — REO Town south of downtown and Old Town north of the LCC campus. Those areas have riverfront access, but they have developed somewhat apart from the downtown.

Schor believes the Grand River can help bridge that divide.

"The river is the one piece that can truly connect those dots," the mayor said.

The regional trails system in Lansing extends from Waverly Road in south Lansing to Old Town and includes 16 miles of connected riverfront path within the city. Along the way, the waterfront path hits points of interest such as the Potter Park Zoo in southeast Lansing and Adado Riverfront Park downtown.

Dana Graham, board president of a citizens group called Friends of the Lansing Regional Trails, said she advocates "thoughtful development" that attracts visitors while protecting the environmental integrity of the river system.

The city's trails and parks are vital because it is free to enjoy them, 3rd Ward City Council Member Adam Hussain said. Hussain represents southwest Lansing, which includes Fulton Park and Hunters Ridge Drive along the Grand River.

Riverfront development could pave the way for more high-end restaurants and pricey amenities. It's important that the area attracts people representing a range of ages and economic means, the mayor said.

"At this point, I don't see anyone being priced out," Schor said. "It's something to watch, though."

Hussain wants to see more people enjoying the riverfront in the winter through activities like snowshoeing. He's encouraged by projects like temporary art exhibits along the river trail and the installation of more canoe and kayak launches.

The city plans to install three launches next summer at Kruger's Landing near the Potter Park Zoo, Moores Park on the south side and Adado Riverfront Park using about $118,000 total from the Ingham County trail tax and Michigan Department of Natural Resources trust fund.

"I've heard from so many constituents who don't realize the extent of the river available to them," Hussain said. "It's so beautiful when you do access it. It takes you to another place where you don't even feel like you're in the city."

Brogan is hopeful that his kayak business will benefit from a renewed awareness of the river's appeal.

"If you have more points of commerce along the river, that becomes an economic driver," Brogan said. "This is how you get people outside."

What do you think?

Click here to share your Lansing wish list with the Lansing State Journal.

Contact Sarah Lehr at (517) 377-1056 or slehr@lsj.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahGLehr.

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