One of several properties acquired by Sparrow Hospital — The former Goodyear building.
Demolition: In February of 2024, the former Goodyear building was demolished. This lot, and many family homes on the block, were purchased by Sparrow Hospital to make way for new hospital buildings that never came to be.
There were never any specific plans for the property that Sparrow made public.
Sparrow was purchased by Michigan Medicine in 2022. Under new management, Sparrow’s plan is to correct the damage to the community caused by the blighted properties.
Margaret Diamond, the regional president for University of Michigan Health has announced a plan to create green space, while sparing the family homes owned by Sparrow. This plan was confirmed by neighborhood leaders and Ryan Kost.
See this news article in The City Pulse:
https://www.lansingcitypulse.com/stories/sparrow-to-spare-vacant-eastside-houses-at-least-for-now,73369
Sparrow’s website says: “Sparrow is led, managed, and operated by individuals who live right here in our community — who are committed to making the right investments for the best possible care for every one of their neighbors.”
Unfortunately the area is currently being developed as a parking lot.
However there is with what appears to be a six foot border including some trees. No specific plans have been made public, however neighborhood officials have reviewed plans with the city.
A family home owned by Sparrow Hospital: This house on Ferguson on the block east of Sparrow’s campus on Michigan Avenue.
This home, which has lasted for more than 100 years, was bought by Sparrow around 2018.
No repairs were performed, and the house became more blighted. During wind storms, shingles blew off the roof, which had to be picked up by neighbors. Under prior management, Sparrow took no action.
Under new management, this house may be repaired and restored, or it may be beyond repair at this stage. The house was donated to Habitat for Humanity.
Reconnecting the neighborhood: This concrete block was placed on the sidewalk by Sparrow workers, remaining there for more than two weeks in the fall of 2021. While this obstacle is a minor problem, and was eventually removed, the image helps to illustrate Sparrow’s general lack of interest for pedestrians and natural spaces on its various properties.
Can a hospital with an operating budget of a billion dollars annually take better care of these spaces?
The blight is not really financial, but cultural. What level of care and investment is expected by the community?
The redevelopment of the Sparrow Eastfield Neighborhood block is an opportunity to reconnect the neighborhood to the hospital campus, allowing Sparrow to restore its integrity.
Should other Sparrow properties be revitalized too? Contrast Sparrow’s bus stop to the image in the “solutions” section (see menu above).
A company that values the public good should value public transit. Yet this bleak bus stop is located outside of Physician’s Health Plan, (PHP) a subsidiary of Sparrow Health.
Here we also see surface parking without any buffer— the concrete extends from the building’s door to the street. Compare this parking lot to those on the solutions page.
For relatively little cost, Sparrow’s parking lots can be retrofitted to reduce their blight and environmental impact.
One challenge for gardens, green space and blight reduction — too much salt: This is a picture of a Sparrow parking lot. Applied by cities and business to reduce ice during the winter time, salt is not usually thought of as a source of pollution. But a large dose of salt can kill plants and cause concrete and metal to erode.
Side effects of salt: Too much salt applied to the sidewalks poisons the soil. Rock salt is a poor solution because chunks of salt can roll off the sidewalk into the grass where they only make the problem worse.
Using a salt-water combination (brine) to target only the sidewalk area is a standard approach for most large organizations, such as MSU.
Reductions in salt use can also occur by paying attention; if the sun will shine within a few hours, then salting may not be necessary. Also, if only half of a parking lot is in use, it makes no sense to salt the entire lot.
Telltale signs: At the Medical Arts building, we again see too much surface parking with no buffer.
In the foreground you can see a planting where a tree once stood. Excess salt on the parking lot has likely killed the tree and caused the paving to crumble. Better design is needed to prevent these problems.