Kalamazoo was featured recently on an episode of "John McGivern's Main Streets". They covered a lot of the predictable stuff - things like Bell's Brewery, The Gilmore (both the car museum and the music festival), Air Zoo, Gibson Guitars, Checker Cabs, Pfizer & Upjohn, paper, greenhouses, celery, the downtown pedestrian mall, and so on.
I've never heard of this show myself, but it's gotten some local buzz. You can watch the full thing on Youtube & educate yourself about our fair city here -
• Video Link
I don't really think the kazoo thing is true though (1:30 into the episode). The episode does provide a nice aerial of the city from a less common angle, featuring some of the newer construction -
Source:
Discover Kalamazoo | John McGivern's Main Streets
There was some eye-catching antenna work going on at the Comerica Bank building downtown today -
I drove by the new Farmers Market. It still looks from finished, but it will be open starting next weekend, regardless, while work progresses. It looks like the designers made a genuine effort at some placemaking within the central commons area. It should be a vast improvement and will easily accommodate many more vendors, vehicles, and patrons -
I also drove by Westgate Commons. These twin mixed-use buildings are pretty dull and practically finished -
Time for some suburban updates. First, in
Oshtemo Township -
This will be the first indoor playplace in Michigan by the California-based company, which operates 35 such entertainment centers in 8 states. It would be constructed in the
vacant, former Pier 1 Imports space at Maple Hill Pavilion. It would look something like
this.
Kalamazoo County is going roundabout crazy, with
three new roundabouts planned in the not-so-distant future. The locations are as follows -
Source:
MLive | RCKC
The Schoolcraft Township one seems particularly obscure. It is in a pretty rural area with very light traffic. Meanwhile, just this morning at another local roundabout that seems to give motorists trouble -
In
Portage,
The elevator shaft for 850 Trade Centre Way is rising. It's at least 4 stories now (maybe 1 more to go?) -
The former Family Dollar at the corner of
Westnedge & Kilgore was actively being demolished Friday morning. It is being replaced with the one thing that is less sexy than a Family Dollar: a "Drive & Shine" car wash, detailing, & oil change center -
Lastly, just south of here, the Westnedge Meijer is undergoing a massive remodel. This is the oldest Meijer store in the region. Meijer has been updating all of it's older generation supermarkets in the area, including the one on West Main (Oshtemo Twp. - completed a year or two ago) and the one on Gull Rd. (ongoing). The Westnedge store had a unique, though somewhat dated style, including several businesses on the second floor (more akin to an indoor mall). I don't know if the second floor area (or its businesses) will remain after the remodel. The superstore is open during construction and I've heard from others that it's a nightmare navigating around inside & out, so I've been actively avoiding it -
