[313er]

i was driving down grand river in east lansing between Park Lake and Hagadorn i passed what looked to be an abandoned trailer park, does anyone remember anything about it.

[pugboy]

I remember it, don't know much about it. I think the old East Lansing Inn was close by, don't even know if that is still there. It was just an beater of an old motel back when I lived in the area in the early 80's.

[magellan]

I remember it. Yep, a trailer park on Grand River. It was very strange.

[michiganbob]

It was there when I moved to Okemos 25 years ago, and probably closed 10-15 years ago now.

Don't remember the reason exactly, but I think there was an issue with the owner either not paying taxes or not maintaining the property to East Lansing code standards. (I also remember something about a fire.)

There was also an ongoing problem with long term renters and students who would come and go each school year. I think eventually the city shut it down and let people move out as their leases expired (took quite a while as I recall) and then there was supposed to be big plans for the land, but that never materialized.

Anyone know any more?

[teachbeach]

The motel is now apartments.

[313er]

what about the trailer park On Park Lake Rd right before I-69.

[zthatzmanz28]

The one on Washington just south of 96 is stunning.

[Sharks With Lasers]

Originally Posted by michiganbob

It was there when I moved to Okemos 25 years ago, and probably closed 10-15 years ago now.

Don't remember the reason exactly, but I think there was an issue with the owner either not paying taxes or not maintaining the property to East Lansing code standards. (I also remember something about a fire.)

There was also an ongoing problem with long term renters and students who would come and go each school year. I think eventually the city shut it down and let people move out as their leases expired (took quite a while as I recall) and then there was supposed to be big plans for the land, but that never materialized.

Anyone know any more?

I grew up in the vicinity and there are a lot of kids (late 80s-early 90s) who went to school with me from there. From what I understand, it's an old trailer park that had been around since WWII times. A lot of the mobile homes there were in poor condition and moving them to another location was cost prohibitive. Also, the park is technically in Meridian Township, not East Lansing, so the kids there went to Okemos schools.

I do remember sometime around 2002-03 or so, there were a bunch of proposed developments on that site, but they involved really dense housing and commercial units that were opposed by residents in the area. After that, I think the park fell apart - I'm not entirely sure what happened, but I think the owner wanted out. It's kind of sad, because if you go by there today, there are a ton of abandoned utility hookups with only about 5-10 trailers still there.

[michigan83]

Looks like Whole Foods will be going into this location. As soon as I read the article I remembered the thread on this site...

http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/a...e-Foods-Market

[KingDoughnut]

I went to elemtary school right next door to the trailer park. I use to get into fights with the kids that lived there all the time! Back in the late 70s and early 80s the parents in Okemos did not want there kids to go to school with poor and working class kids, so even though we lived in townhouses and apartments on the east side of Okemos, we were all bused to Wardcliff Elementary that sits in Okemos's working class community and sits next to the old trailer park on the west side. I had quite a shock when I got to Kinawa Middle School and relized I was looked down on for being working class. This is a example of how the Lansing area dose not segregate by race, but by social class. I guess it's better than racism. That trailer park was a bad place!! It is now being replaced with Whole Foods.