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.....