This thread will be for urban-related photos of Downtown Kalamazoo and its surrounding neighborhoods, taken by the author. There is a lot to discover in this small (but growing), midwest city, and in the nearly two years that I have lived here, I’m still finding new things every day. Folks are proud to live in Kalamazoo, and I hope some of these photos will show you why.
We’ll start with some photos from this weekend.
June Jubilee 2017
June Jubilee is the unofficial kickoff to summer here in Kalamazoo. Every year, on the first weekend in June, the entire city comes alive, with a variety of coinciding events, including:
- Historic Walking Tours and Building Tours
- 'Art Hop'
- The annual 'KIA Arts Fair' (200 juried artists' booths from around the country)
- 'Art on the Mall' (40 local artists booths)
- The annual 'Do-Dah' Parade (started 1984, based on the one in Pasadena)
- Live music events, like 'Concerts in the Park'
- Food trucks
- The Kalamazoo Public Library Bag-of-Books Sale
- Lots of other free events
For a short while, the city seems a much larger place than it is, truly taking on a more urban and metropolitan feeling with all of the activity and people. Next to nearly every other city represented on this site, Kalamazoo is quite small, but it is filled with things to see and do, and if you're looking for variety, you don't have to look far. Anyway, this year, I tried to experience as much of it as possible, and some photos of the weekend are posted here. I will probably do a couple of posts.
First, some theme music:
• Video Link
June Jubilee Part 1 - Historic Walking Tour - Friday morning, June 2 - we start with a historic walking tour, focused on the Haymarket and Arcadia districts (brown and yellow on the map), with a little bit of the Mall included too (red). About 50 attendees went on the 1 or 2 mile walk, led by Lynn Houghton, who is the Regional History Curator at WMU.
Kalamazoo Downtown Districts Map:
Image Source:
DKI
Lynn is in the blue t-shirt, at center:
The Kalamazoo Building, built 1907, basking in the morning sunlight. The building was designed by Chicago architect Joseph C. Llewellyn:
A colonial detail at the base of The Kalamazoo Building, likely added sometime in the 1920's:
Across from The Kalamazoo Building is the First National Bank and Trust Building, constructed 1917 and designed by Weary and Alford in the neo-classical style. In the 1970s it received the cladding that it still carries today. It is currently in phase 2 of a conversion to apartments and ground-floor commercial space:
This cluster of buildings is now known simply as 'The 100 Block' on Michigan Avenue. They were all restored and redeveloped recently with commercial on the ground level and apartments above.
The small 3-story structure at the right-end of the 100 Block dates to the Civil War.
Looking west along Michigan Ave, towards the Radisson:
This is the Kalamazoo Savings Bank, another neo-classical building that is currently vacant:
Across from it is the American National Bank (now Fifth Third Bank), a handsome Art Deco tower designed by Weary & Alford and completed during the Great Depression in 1930:
For the past few years, the tower has been home to peregrine falcons that have reared several chicks each year. If you squint, you can see the falcon at the top of this radio tower that is near the nest:
Adjacent to the art deco tower, Farmers Alley is being reconstructed with a full-width sidewalk, which is great, because it is a popular shortcut for many pedestrians:
Farmers Alley connects with Exchange Place, another alley that has been torn up for utility work, and one that intersects the Kalamazoo Mall, providing links to Portage St. and Rose St. Here again, the full-with sidewalk is a new improvement:
Further west on Michigan Ave you'll discover the Sweetland Building, one of the oldest intact structures in the city, built 1857:
And then there’s these two blocks, flanking the corners where Portage Road meets Michigan Ave. They are also both quite old:
Historic marker on the Peninsula Building:
A second marker tells of the AUV Auditorium, which was unfortunately destroyed in the 1980 tornado.
Here’s what the auditorium looked like:
Image Source:
Twitter
Today that site is just a parking lot:
The Main Street East Block has some great history in a grouping of 19th century buildings reflecting a variety of styles and detail. It has been fully renovated for retail and office space:
The W.A. Doyle Building is Richardsonian Romanesque:
And the Desenberg Building is the only existing building in Michigan designed by Adler & Sullivan. Built in 1886, it has detailing not seen on any other building in the city:
Coney Island, Since 1915:
Floor tile sign for a downtown restaurant – there’s a lot like this throughout the city:
The Rosenbaum Building, originally a pant factory, now a dueling piano bar, event space, luxury apartments, and sky deck:
Next to it is another Richardsonian Romanesque structure that houses a Post Office, and….a night club:
In this area of the Haymarket District, there were once a lot of hotels, because it was where several train depots and stations once were. This used to be the Arlington Hotel:
Next to it, what was once the Columbia Hotel:
Here’s a former train station that now houses the Kalamazoo Community Foundation:
More floor signage, of a long-gone hotel and Candy Store. The building is being renovated into new retail space with apartments above:
Wind chime sculpture at the YWCA:
The restaurant ‘”Food Dance” and other businesses are housed in this complex. The addition has two distinct styles, meant to represent different periods in the history of the original building on the right:
The National Storage Building, built 1912. I think it would make a great space for a boutique hotel or apartments:
The Globe Casket Company, completed in 1900, and one of the first businesses to offer cloth-lined caskets. Today it houses “The Beer Exchange” a bank, and professional offices.
The Haymarket Building dates to 1907. The large parking lot behind it used to be the site of the actual market. It is an area that I think is ripe for redevelopment:
“Slices of Heaven,” a recently-acquired addition to Arcadia Creek Festival Place. The sculpture is by Florida artist Craig Gray:
Anna Whitten Hall, on the downtown campus of KVCC. I suppose this could be considered post-modern. It’s meant to reflect some of the historic buildings around it:
Arcadia Creek. It was uncovered in the 1990s, but unfortunately is still completely inaccessible due to flooding concerns:
The Kalamazoo Valley Museum flanks part of the creek:
The Second-Empire style Lawrence and Chapin Building, built 1872:
Regus / Varnum Building, next-door. Not sure what this was originally:
And next to that, one of my favorites, the former Masonic Hall, built 1913, now commonly referred to as the Rose Street Market:
For a while, it housed multiple businesses inside. Now it sits vacant, and there are plans to convert it into a hotel:
It was almost demolished to build a parking deck for the County Administration Building, which fortunately did not happen. The County Building is a brutalist structure:
The Transportation Center on Kalamazoo Avenue - an Amtrak stop and a hub for Metro Buses:
More tile detail in an entryway:
The Waterbury Block, built 1883, an Italianate masonry building:
A resident steps out on her balcony to greet us:
This Art Deco structure is the W.S. Dewing building, completed 1928, it now houses classrooms and gallery space for KVCC:
Whiskey Alley cuts through the middle of the Dewing Building, providing a shortcut to parking and back entrances of several businesses:
One of several Neo-Art Deco pylons downtown, that provide wayfinding and historical information:
This one is at the corner of Kalamazoo Mall and Michigan Ave, near where we concluded the historic walking tour:
A peek at The Exchange construction site. There are more construction progress photos of this 15-story building
here:
Finally, we end back at the Mall. It is quiet and calm at dawn, but vendors are already beginning to set up for the art fair:
Thanks for looking. More photos will be posted soon!
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