Senior Life

Above: The Bailey Community Center as seen from the west.

City Council’s meeting this week did not see the smooth sailing that had been hoped by all for the Capital Area Housing Partnership’s (CAHP’s) plan for redevelopment of the Bailey Community Center.

Above: City Council’s meeting last night (left to right: Ruth Beier, Diane Goddeeris, and Nathan Triplett)

Last night at East Lansing’s City Council, a development group called FP Investors got Council’s approval for a “cluster plan development” for the Falcon Pointe property, near Hawk Nest, on Chandler Road near State Road. The plan calls for FP Investors “to convert an existing manufactured housing community into a site condominium development.”

Above: artist’s rendering of the CAHP plan for the redeveloped Bailey Community Center, viewed from the south.

Embedded reporter Richard Hill-Rowley takes off his cleats to tell you the backstory.

Image: Proposed southern elevation view from the CAHP plan for redevelopment of the Bailey Community Center structure

Image courtesy City of East Lansing

The big, annual East Lansing recycling event, known now as “Recycle! East Lansing,” will take place this year on Saturday, May 30. Formerly known as “Project Pride,” this event provides opportunities to dispose of lots of common household items in a relatively environmentally-responsible fashion. Items that are in good condition may be reused, and the rest will be recycled to the extent possible.

Above: Image from yesterday's presentation by Capital Area Housing Partnership

About four dozen East Lansing residents, mostly from the Bailey neighborhood, attended a meeting at the Bailey Community Center yesterday to hear the Capital Area Housing Partnership (CAHP) present plans for repurposing the building. People posed questions about various aspects of the early version of the plans, but no one raised serious objections and several residents made a point of expressing their support for the proposal.

New information from City staff has emerged on the past and possible future of the Bailey Community Center, just as the Capital Area Housing Partnership is moving to convene a public discussion this week about that organization’s vision for how to use the property.

Telaina Eriksen: Can you give me a little bit of the history behind Helping Hands and its place in the East Lansing Community?

The Steam Railroading Institute (SRI) of Owosso is offering a unique and relaxing way to see the fall colors of the Lower Peninsula: an all-day train tour. The SRI will be hosting a series of trips: October 4, round-trip from Cadillac to Boyne Fall; October 11, round-trip from Petoskey to Fife Lake; and October 18, round-trip from Mount Pleasant to Cadillac. The series’ migration south over October ensures great colors on each tour.

On August 6, the City Council voted to put a question on the November 4 ballot asking the electorate to authorize the City to sell three parking lots needed for redevelopment of the west end of downtown leading down to Valley Court Park, an area being called “the Park District.”

This authorization will only pass if 60% of the voters vote for it; the City Charter requires that a super-majority of voters approve sale of public properties of this value.