As East Lansing enters a period of vibrancy beginning with the construction of the $30 million City Center Project, the signs of the city’s last revitalization are disappearing, brick by brick.
Demolition of the University Mall, 220 M.A.C. Ave., began Wednesday after the last business in the 50-year-old building moved out April 11. The demolition will require at least two weeks of work.
“There were houses all along that block at one time,” said Jack Patriarche, who was the city manager from 1948 to 1976. “In and out, in and out. Nothing there ever went very long.
“It’s progress, they say. There’s been a lot going on in East Lansing while I was here. There’s been lots of changes.”
The building was constructed in the late 1950s as a branch of the Lansing-based Knapp’s Department Store. When East Lansing refused to let the store expand, the store moved to Meridian Mall in Okemos in 1969.
After the building was purchased by East Lansing’s Eyde family and renamed the University Mall, it became the home to numerous restaurants and shops that fed off the university’s student population.
“It does have that kind of legacy, but it’s a poor building,” said Jim van Ravensway, director of planning and community development.
“That was really built as a single purpose department store. It just never functioned well as anything else.”
Owners admit business has picked up after leaving the location that tucked the stores on M.A.C. Avenue, out of the public eye.
Kris Lachance, who opened Splash of Color Tattooing in 1994 in the mall, said she loves her new location away from the mall at 515 E. Grand River Ave.
“We have windows now,” she said. “It helped tremendously. Business for us has definitely expanded and grown.”
Despite the business improvements, some residents say they will miss the building and its history.
“It was there when I moved here,” Councilmember Beverly Baten said. “We used to go downtown and take the kids and go shopping.”
Mark Clouse, general counsel for the Eyde Company, 4660 S. Hagadorn Road, said he and other employees have watched the building age during his 16 years with the former owner’s company.
“It was a building that we all had lunch in and spent time in, all the employees that have been here for a long time,” he said. “It’s a building that we enjoyed.
“It’s part of progress for East Lansing. I think we recognize the need for a change and the changes for the city will benefit the overall community.”
The University Mall is the last building to be demolished in preparation for the construction of the City Center Project that will include BW-3 and other retailers, and $150,000 to $300,000 condominiums.
The 706-space City Center parking structure will open this fall, followed by a four-story Barnes & Noble Booksellers, which replaced Jacobson’s downtown department store.
“I think what’s happening to the downtown is exactly what we hoped would happen,” said van Ravensway.
“There’s always been this historical debate over who does the downtown belongs to, and it really needs to combine everybody. It’s going to be a user-friendly downtown for everybody, whether you’re talking about a BW-3 or a Barnes & Noble.”
