The answer to our "Guessing Game"

Lovingly referred to, now for the most part, as the "Habitrail" parking garage, this was the City of East Lansing, Michigan's answer to a downtown parking crisis in the 1980s. But it wasn't to be any parking garage, it had to be a piece of "art" as the city began promoting itself as City of the Arts way back then and continues to this day. As we know, the 80s were the decade of the "big" and this certainly was a big statement.

I worked in the city's planning department at the time and did a lot of analyses about parking demand in the downtown area which is immediately adjacent to Michigan State University. Then, students would use parking in downtown East Lansing as it was more accessible than the highly restricted campus parking. The city also restricted parking in its zoning code based upon twice annual surveys of parking utilization which would meter out redevelopment at a slow pace. Too slow for the city's collective vision for its downtown and the financial future of its parking system. The city maintained a monopoly on parking and no private providers were allowed.

It was also at a time when a new hotel, office and retail complex was in the last stages of completion immediately northwest of this property. There was a lot of concern that parking was inadequate in that project and additional parking would be need to accommodate overflow from that project, existing demand in the downtown and catalyze future redevelopment in the downtown area. Below is a picture of the mixed use project kitty-corner to this parking garage.

I was standing on the sidewalk along side the parking structure looking toward "University Place" as it was known then when I took this picture. Notice the Dutch Colonial two story house that is immediately across the street from the gigantic 6 story, 550 space+ garage. Here is how the rest of that block looks:

These are likely student rentals but they are co-existing for 24 years after construction of what some thought was a gargantuan mistake. If you check out the link above in the first paragraph, you can see the change in perception over time, at least by the editorial board of the State News, the official University student-run paper. It has become a landmark and the community has grown to like this colorful addition to the downtown. It has held up pretty well. The material is a corrugated metal with a baked-on finish that has already stood a political test of re-painting it green and white, the Spartan's team colors. Here is a detail of the columns of the structure.

The first floor is dedicated to commercial space and has been relatively successful through the years. Yes, some people still don't like it, but there are others that do - and it has become a landmark. Search for "habitrail parking East Lansing" - especially images. You will find a large collection of photos and comments about the structure. In the next block to the east, you have a bed and breakfast operating in a historic structure.

So, before some people get all twisted about how by showing this, it somehow says I think it is a good example for what can be done in Lake Worth in terms of height and compatibility, you are wrong. These are two very different communities with very different needs, pasts and futures. I just know that every election in East Lansing you don't hear "Remember the Habitrail!" That is all that I am saying...life continues.

And, tomorrow, my Dad and I will be going through this new art museum built on the campus of MSU - right across the street from downtown East Lansing. It's been referred to as a "monstrosity", but perhaps we live in monstrous times? We'll see. I will have more pictures tomorrow of this building. But, here are two now. One has the parking garage in the background.