[LansingQuiz]

Hello Forum Members,

I was raised in Lansing near the Willow Street Michigan School For The Blind (Now closed). Does anyone remember the Consumers Power storage tanks that I believe were torn down circa 1954-55? Consumers Power Co.were the successors to Lansing Fuel and Gas Co. circa 1926. The Cross Street 600 block dead ended at the tanks and ultimately is where the Consumers Power office and parking lot was built, with the main entrance off Willow Street. I would appreciate anyone's memories of this area of Lansing.

[Southernkomfort27]

I was raised near that area, but further down Willow st., by St. Vincents. I don't remember the storage tanks, but I do remember ice skating at Comstock Park, and visiting my great aunt at the Woman's Home on Willow St. I also rember that Delucca's, formerly called the Willow St. Bar, had some of the best pizza aroud. Have you been to the historical museum in Lansing? They might have more iformation for you.

[LansingQuiz]

Ah, yes, ice skating all day long at Comstock Park, teens kissing behind the Hot House (which was the coldest place on Earth). I spent many a winter day doing just that.

I remember that woman's home being called "The Old Women's Home," but we may have just called it that ourselves. I'm not sure if you would have been able to see the tanks from the Women's Home, or from Comstock Park. I think not. What we called "The Little Store" was on the corner of Chestnut, before the Women's Home, going east on Willow St. As kids, we did our penny-candy shopping at "The Little Store."

You say you lived near St. Vincent's. Was that the one on Michigan? If so, do you happen to remember Hicks Ct.? A small street (court) near there, I believe between Cedar and larch. Its gone now. We lived briefly on Hick's Ct.

I drove by what was the Willow Bar just the other day while visiting Lansing and wondered if the near-by treatment plant puts Delucca's dining business off.

I also went to the Lansing Historical Museum and Library when I was in town. What a great place. I was able to corroborate that the tanks were Consumers Power tanks, formerly Lansing Fuel and gas, but don't know what they stored in the tanks. Natural gas? We were able to look through the City Directories at the Library and find my parent's addresses, phone # and even place of employment back to 1946.

[timeofseasons]

Also raised in Lansing, going into my senior year. I only remember recently some smoke stacks being torn down, I doubt that relates to what you recall.

[LansingQuiz]

No, they weren't smoke stacks, they were big, big storage tanks. A taller one and a shorter one. The taller one was maybe eight stories high and God only knows the circumference of the tanks. They were huge. I found a picture on line of the Lansing Fuel and Gas tanks, but it's a picture taken back in the `20s when that company was still in business, so there wasn't much around those tanks in the picture except Lansing Fuel and Gas buildings. I don't know if they are the same tanks that were off Willow Street. They did also have smoke stacks on the LF&G site at that time, as most factories did, but their smoke stacks were long gone before the `50s. I suspect the tanks I remember might even have been abandoned once Consumers Power took over the Lansing Fuel and Gas Co., and possibly didn't store anything once natural gas was stored underground. As I said the tanks were torn down in `54-`55. I'm told that the people in the surrounding neighborhood were evacuated for the day when the tanks were knocked down.

I suspect the recent smoke stacks you're talking about might have been Fisher Body smoke stacks, because all of Fisher Body is completely gone now, and Oldsmobile's three smoke stacks were still standing last I knew.

[T H Ray]

What a kick. I realize these posts are five years old -- I just happened to stumble in here looking for something else, and couldn't resist writing:

De Luca's has upgraded, and it is still always packed! (I live near St. Vincent's on Willow, which has also upgraded over the years, and we get carryout from De Luca's at least twice a month.) I remember the Willow Bar, too, having lived in the Lansing area since 1970. What I miss, though, are the sandwiches from long-gone Pasquale's on Saginaw (or Oakland?), a nice hot sub sandwich with fresh baked bread and several varieties of melted cheese. Meatballs or vegetarian, they were always great -- and of course, with a nice draft beer. :-)

Tom

[Nedibes]

LOL, my family still calls De Luca's Willow Bar occasionally, even though I don't think that's been its official name in my memory, and De Luca's pizza is a must-have when we are all back in Lansing. Not the most scenic or romantic location, it's true, and yet I had my first kiss there (in the entry vestibule) lo these many years ago .