Oshtemo Township -
There is
finally a tentative schedule to demolish & replace
the U.S. 131 bridges that span KL Avenue and the Amtrak tracks. They are decades older than their original design life. The work will involve constructing a third span to re-route traffic while construction occurs. The third bridge may be temporary or permanent, depending on what deal gets worked-out with Amtrak -
I read that the shuttered
Finley's Grill & Smokehouse was being demolished so I drove by it yesterday to check it out. I can't tell yet if it is a complete demolition. It looks more selective (like they might be gutting it and re-purposing the structure). But it might be too soon to tell. I searched the Oshtemo Township Planning Commission agendas and I couldn't find any clues on a new development here -
Kalamazoo -
I was a little bit disappointed to see that they are demolishing the unique single-wythe curved brick wall that wrapped the parking lot of the Park Club, as part of their ongoing exterior upgrades. I'm not sure if it will be replaced in-kind (but assuming not) -
Source:
Facebook | The Park Club of Kalamazoo
Source:
Facebook | The Park Club of Kalamazoo
Lastly, one of the strangest site plan reviews I've ever seen was just posted. It is for a new "coffee shop and office" at
1023 Riverview Drive, in the Burke Acres neighborhood. Everything about this submission just seems weird to me.
First, the location - it will be situated in-between a car shop and an auto-parts store, and across the street from a police station, along a noisy, high-traffic road with zero pedestrian foot traffic. There is a drive-thru, so maybe they aren't planning on that many people sticking around to sip their coffee, but there is indoor and outdoor balcony seating. Who is going to want to sit there and work on their computer?
Second, the coffee shop design itself - it is an 8' x 20' x 2-story building, with an exterior stair and second-floor seating area. I can't tell from the drawings, but it seems to approximate the proportions of two stacked shipping containers, so maybe that is what is going on here. The drawings were done by a person / company called savvibuilt.com. I've never heard of them, and their website doesn't seem to exist. The exterior elevations and renderings look incredibly bleak. Maybe that is just the render quality though.
Third, what is up with that separate office building in back? Is it to support the coffee shop in some way, or is it a totally separate function? There is literally zero info on the office building, aside from the floor plan that can be seen in the site plan drawings.
Source:
City of Kalamazoo