Saying Goodbye to the Occidential

April 14, 1980,  Bud Jaeger, All The Best from Bud Jaeger's Muskegon County. (c) MLive Group 

It was the most spectacular show in the history of downtown Muskegon. And it was all over in barely eight seconds.





That's how long it took to blast the imposing eight story Occidental Hotel into a neat pile of rubble... only a few bricks scattering on adjacent Third Street and Western Avenue. Although it seemed longer, it all happened five years ago, April 13, 1975.

Few on hand that chilly Sunday morning will ever forget the thrilling spectacle as the mighty hotel, a landmark in downtown Muskegon for decades, came crashing to earth. They'll be talking about it for years. (and we are....)

  An article in the April Reader's Digest about Jack Loizeaux, the colorful chief of Controlled Demolition Inc., jogged our memory of that fateful day. A nationally known expert in his field, Jack and his crew dropped the huge building exactly where they planned. Many on the Chronicle staff got to know Jack and his son, Doug, during the three weeks they spent preparing for the blast. they were "good copy" for reporters and photographers, as was Mrs. Loizeaux (Freddie) when she arrived to be in on the final act.

  As we recall, they were most cooperative until the final week. Then they started to clam up regarding the day and time of the blast. No way did they want crowds around when the dynamite charges were set off.

  Loizeaux and Mike O'Rourke, the prime contractor, refused to name the time despite the urging of Chronicle editors, who point out readers would feel cheated and blame the newspaper if they were not informed when the building was coming down. Many felt sentimental about the old hotel.

  Their reply: "We are not in the entertainment business. Our concern is public safety"

  But then Mayor Donald Johnson let the "cat out of the bag" when he invited Gov. William G. Milliken to be present Sunday morning for the demolition. Even then the exact time was not known.

  That was enough, however, to bring 10,000 or more spectators to the downtown area, many arriving at dawn. They were in for a long wait on a very chilly day.

  Some clue that the blast would be delayed came when services at St. Paul's Church, across the street, went on as scheduled at 10 a.m. Costly church windows already had been boarded up to prevent damage.

    Chronicle reporters and photographers had been on the scene for hours before the big moment came. Overtime checks that week ran way over budget.



  It was 12:40 p.m. when Jack Loizeaux, kneeling in Hackley Park, pushed the plunger that set off the charges. At the time, his wife was leading the crowd in chanting the countdown.

  Most of us heard what sounded like firecrackers. Then the top part of the building started to crumble, walls caved in, and with a mighty roar the proud old hotel crumpled like a house of cards.

    We were among those engulfed in the huge cloud of dust that rolled across the downtown area, fanned by a westerly wind. In the excitement, we barely noticed the dust.

  Only the hotel's towering smokestack defied the dynamite. It was leaning but a bulldozer had to bring it down.

  It was a shame the old hotel had to be demolished. Although there are some who still resent the destruction, the Occidental had outlived it's usefulness. It would have cost millions to renovate and the investors wanted no part of it.

  That was a fateful moment in Muskegon's history when the Occidental faded from the scene. It was one we will never forget.


(Blogmasters Comments: I was just a young teenage boy living in Fremont, Michigan when I had heard about this implosion. It's amazing to think that the Occidental had to be brought down and less than 10 years after a brand new Hilton Hotel was constructed just down the street from this iconic hotel. Bud Jaeger was right, it's one we will never forget.)

The Slow Demise of a Great Downtown

Meijer Thrifty Acres in Norton Township 1961

Muskegon's downtown began to come apart as retailers began to expand outside of the downtown district. The first to really affect the downtown was Meijer Thrifty Acres. They had a store on Apple Avenue and Wood Street. That building is now part of the Community Mental Health facility. They moved out to Norton Township, that was the city of Norton Shores before it became a city. It was a large store taking up almost the whole corner of Henry Street and Norton Avenue. The store officially opened in 1961 to the dismay of many downtown retailers.

Western Avenue

Many downtown buildings, that only a few years earlier, were full of stores were now boarded over and closed. This gave the downtown a rather abandoned appearance. The city fathers were quite stymied as to what should be done. The thought of a new downtown mall was resurrected from a plan that was proposed back in the 1950's by then city planner Robert Van Hoef. It was his idea to put a roof over a part of Western Avenue. The plan was turned down by the city council back then. He also proposed making Federal Square into a pedestrian only walk way with park like seating. That too was voted down. But by the early 1960's the city fathers were beginning to look at these plans again. Part of the problem for a downtown mall was that most developers preferred tearing everything down and starting from scratch. The city however wanted to preserve some of it's more historic buildings. The Muskegon Chronicle, the cities only daily newspaper, ran an article on the modernization of Federal Square.

A potential revitalization of Federal Square. Used with permission - MLive Inc.

These were the ideas that were being considered by the late 1960's. Henry Street and Apple Avenue had developed into major retail shopping areas. It was at this time that the city of Muskegon had finally decided to go big in it's revitalization of the downtown district. The planning department had developed a map of the redevelopment area.

 This project was known as the Downtown Redevelopment Plan and a map was drawn to show which properties were to be purchased and what amount of demolition was to be done so that a new mall could be constructed.

Downtown Redevelopment Map 1968

This plan was so extensive and was to cost quite a bit of public money that is was put to the voters to decide. In 1968 the project was put on the ballot and a special election was held. It passed by a very high margin of yes votes. Now that the citizens had given their approval it was now time to find the money. Join us next time as we begin to see the Muskegon Mall come to fruition.

The Occidental Hotel–No More

April 1975, and the construction of the downtown Muskegon Mall is progressing at a rapid pace. The two anchor stores are going up, Sears at the east end of the mall and the new Steketee’s at the west end. By this time there were so many buildings and whole streets that had been swept away as a result, that the downtown was not recognizable anymore. One of the few features left of any significance was the Occidental Hotel located at the corner of Clay and Third.   It extended all the way to the corner of Third and Western Avenues. It included a candy and ice cream shop on Western Avenue, and at one time a restaurant. But by the mid-1970’s the building was holding up progress.
When Richard Steketee committed to an anchor store in Muskegon, he wanted to make sure that there would be plenty of parking on his side of the mall for his customers. And the only thing standing in the way of a 350 car parking area was…. you guessed it the Occidental Hotel.The decision was made that the hotel property would be obtained  by the city and demolished.This was big news for many in town as the Occidental had been the hub of many a night out. From dancing in the ball room to political rallies. A number of  Presidential hopefuls held rallies and dinners at the Occidental. Including then Senator John F.Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon.
At one time the Occidental played host to two television stations, WMKG Channel 53, a local low power television station operated by Bud Kelly. And the local office for WZZM-TV 13 out of Grand Rapids.

The Occidental Hotel closed it’s doors for the last time on December 1, 1970. And by 1975 the city had obtained the property through condemnation proceedings.

Contracts were let out for bid on the demolition and O’Rourke Wrecking had won the bid and sub-contracted with Controlled Demolitions to implode the building. There was great concern within city hall about the when and the how of the Occidental coming down. And the date was kept secret for as long as possible. Wrecking crew personnel had worked inside the building for many weeks removing windows, and fixtures and generally making it ready to come down. The interior was stripped to the metal I-beams and the rubble hauled away.

Boards went up over windows on buildings surrounding the hotel. The Michigan Theater (now the Frauenthal Center), the Chronicle Building and St. Paul’s Episcopal church were shuttered in plywood. A large berm of dirt was pushed up around the building to help prevent debris from flying about.

The Occidental Comes Down VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

On Sunday, April 13, 1975,  a bright sunny morning, crowds slowly began to gather in Hackley park, as it appeared that the day had finally come. Police and Fire Department personnel were at a safe distance, but definitely in force on that day. A lone siren was heard through the downtown area.  And from across the street in Hackley Park an employee from Controlled Demolitions turned the handle which set off the explosive charges inside the hotel, and she gracefully, albeit forcefully came down. A huge dust cloud arose and demolition personnel moved in with fire hoses to knock the cloud down.


But on April,13, 1975 the hotel came down. It was the biggest implosion of a commercial building in the history of downtown Muskegon.

Ironically, just a few years later, after the Muskegon Mall had been open, the city fathers realized that there was a need for hotel space in the downtown area, as there were very few rooms available. So in there infinite wisdom, the city, in conjunction with the country, decided to build a new hotel, which sat kitty corner on Third street from where the once proud Occidental once stood. But that is another story!

Demolition - the Walls Come Tumbling Down

And so began the massive urban renewal project in downtown Muskegon. New roads were built, such as the Terrace Street extension, and other roads were basically eliminated, such as Market Street.This picture shows the construction of the Terrace Street extension. Businesses shown in this picture were on Market street. Al Peri Furniture's, J.C. Penny's, were both torn down for the road improvements.

  This picture above shows Terrace street facing northwest. The new Sear's Roebuck will rise on this spot and be one of two anchor stores.

This view actually looks west up Western Avenue. Infrastructure such as roads, new sewer lines, and other necessary changes were made to the downtown before the actual construction began.

 Construction for one of the entrances to the mall are being poured. This will actually be were the mall office is located. . This final picture shows the mall construction, a view towards the west end of the mall.

This is the view from Sear's towards Steekee's If you look closely you can see people still going about there business, especially at Walgreen's. In my next post I will show more pictures of the demolition to include the Occidental Hotel, and never before seen pictures of the downtown before demolition.

City Government Begins to Act

By 1968 city planners had decided on a plan for urban renewal that was consistent with the city's master plan. The map below shows the area selected for the downtown urban renewal project.

This map shows clearly the area that became the Muskegon Mall, but what is notable about this is that it also includes areas outside of the mall footprint. There was a desperate need for a new city hall, and the retail block on Terrace where the current City Hall stands was also included in this plan.

Photo: Mlive - Muskegon Chronicle

City Hall originally stood at the corner of Jefferson Street and Clay Avenue.


This also gave the city an opportunity to improve infrastructure as well, new sewer's were put in just prior to mall construction. And new roads were built. I will cover all of that in upcoming posts.

Urban Renewal… saving the Downtown.

Urban renewal was not a new thing for most big cities. It has been an ongoing process since the beginning of time. Muskegon was no exception. As we came into the 1950’s industry and the heavy burden it brought to our shoreline began to become an issue. One that would not go away. And there were many possible solutions.  The Muskegon Chronicle published a conceptualized drawing of what Federal Square might look like if Western Avenue were closed off between Second and First streets. 

By this time our city government had begun to see the potential demise of the city center. So plans were discussed and many people were giving input into what to do with out downtown. Still the epicenter of commerce in the whole of Muskegon Country, it was important to not lose businesses to the out laying areas. To help with this effort, L.C. Walker of Shaw-Walker fame pledged $1.5 million dollars to help build a sports arena at the corner of Third Street and Western Avenue, the L.C.Walker Sports Arena opened to much fanfare in 1960.  

By now the days of hustle and bustle, of non stop economic growth were slowing coming to an end in the downtown area. Henry Street and Apple Avenue were becoming the up and coming commercial areas. Meijer's in Norton Shores and Plumbs new store and corporate offices in the Glenside district all drew people from the downtown. And the downtown slowly became grey and dingy and run down. 

Grossman's Department Store, 1970's

In The Beginning.: Muskegon Before Urban Renewal

Muskegon, Michigan - a town with a rich and vibrant history. But like most towns, Muskegon has suffered through some tough times. The center of activity in Muskegon, was its downtown. Heavy industry surrounded the commercial district. Companies like Lakey Foundry, and Continental Motors dotted the perimeter along with many other industries making Muskegon an industrial magnet.

And within that perimeter was the commercial center of the town.  I wish to take a look at the downtown as it was, before urban renewal. And just what the city fathers were thinking when it came to  "fixing" the downtown.

Regent Theater - 1943

Downtown consisted of roughly 75 acres of commercial and retail businesses.  In it's hay day it was the place to go for shopping and entertainment. Here we see the Regent theater one of three theaters in the downtown area, The Regent, the Michigan and the N&K.

Towner Packard - 1943

You could find most anything downtown. Needed a new car? You could just shoot on over to the Packard Dealership and see what the new models look like.There were a multitude of dealerships all right downtown.

Chop Suey House, Western Ave, 1944

 And if you got hungry, there were so many different restaurants downtown you could eat your self silly. This is just one of the many places to find good ethnic food, long before ethnic became chic. The Chop Suey House on Western Avenue served authentic Asian food. G&L Greek Chili Dogs were also a fixture along Western Avenue.

G&L Greek Chili Dogs - Western Avenue - 1973

Greyhound Terminal - Western and 1st Ave.

Muskegon's downtown was a thriving and bustling transportation center as well, the Greyhound station was the place to start your travels from downtown by road, or you could take a train , just head down to the Union Depot. Even the local bus system would take you just about anywhere you needed to go !

In the next post we will look at the slow demise of the downtown, and the idea of urban renewal begins to turn in the minds of city government.... stay tuned.....