Ottawa Street Power Station
Ottawa Street Power Station | |
 Ottawa Street Power Station | |
  | |
| Area | 1.35 acres[2] |
|---|---|
| Built | 1937-1939[2] |
| Architect | Burns & Roe Bowd & Munson |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| NRHP reference No. | 08001103[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 26, 2008[1] |
Ottawa Street Power Station is a former municipal electric and steam utility generating station for the Lansing Board of Water and Light in Lansing, Michigan, located on the Grand River in the city's central business district currently being redeveloped as corporate headquarters for the Accident Fund Insurance Company of America.
Design and construction
The engineering design of the plant was by Ralph C. Roe and Allen Burns the firm of Burns and Roe, and represented an improvement over the design of the Bremo Station in Virginia, which the two had designed while employed at Electric Management and Engineering Company. The architectural design was by Edwyn A. Bowd of Bowd and Munson. Construction began in 1937 and was completed in 1939, at a cost of $4 million, with formal dedication the following year. Major additions were completed in 1946. The 176-foot tall Art Deco step-back structure sits on a polished black granite water table, with an intricate exterior design of multicolor brick. The design symbolizes the combustion of coal, and graduates from dark purple at the base through reds and orange in the middle, to light yellow at the top, alternating with bands of limestone, and with limestone parapets and trim. The Ottawa Street station was praised for its engineering and architecture in trade publications of the day, and immediately became the city's preeminent Art Deco landmark. Bowd subsequently designed a number of other prominent Art Deco and Streamline Moderne buildings in the Lansing area, including the J.W. Knapp Company Building.[2][3][4]
Operating History
The Ottawa Street station provided electricity and steam to the downtown Lansing area from 1939 through the late 1980s. By 1971, improvements at the Board of Water and Light's Eckert Station permitted the Ottawa Street Station to operate as a backup station for electric generation. It continued to provide steam service into the 1980s. In 1984, this Board of Water and Light's Eckert Station began providing steam service, initially as a backup to the Ottawa Street Station, but eventually as the primary steam service source. As equipment became obsolete, it was removed from the Ottawa Street Station, and ultimately it was decommissioned in 1992 for electric and steam. In 2001, a portion of the station was renovated to provide chilled water service for air conditioning.[5] It continued to operate as a water chilling plant until September 2009, when the Board of Water and Light completed a new chilled water plant in downtown Lansing.[2][6][7]
Redevelopment
Following decommissioning, the City of Lansing explored various options for redevelopment of the Ottawa Street Station.[5] In 2007, it was sold to be redeveloped as corporate headquarters for the Accident Fund Insurance Company of America. Massive renovations to convert the plant to an office building are currently underway by The Christman Company, with completion of the entire 7-acre office campus scheduled for the first quarter of 2011.[3][4][8]
National Register of Historic Places Listing
The Ottawa Street Station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 26, 2008.[2][1][4]
It is the 22nd property listed as a featured property of the week in a program of the National Park Service that began in July, 2008.[1][9]
See also
- National Register of Historic Places featured properties and districts
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Michigan
References
- ^ a b c d "Announcements and actions on properties for the National Register of Historic Places, December 5, 2008". New listings. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ a b c d e Kidorf, Kristine M. (June, 2008), Template:PDFlink, National Park Service
{{citation}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) ( 30 pages including 10 photos) - ^ a b Cosentino, Lawrence, "The belly of the phoenix" Lansing City Pulse (March 26, 2009)
- ^ a b c "Ottawa Street Power Station receives national designation", Reuters (March 18, 2009)
- ^ a b Mulcahy, Marty, "Big chill project revives Ottawa Street Station", The Building Tradesman (January 19, 2001)
- ^ Cosnentino, Lawrence, "The greatest show in town", Lansing City Pulse (September 9, 2009)
- ^ Prater, Kathryn "BWL dedicates new chilled water plant" Lansing State Journal (September 16, 2009)
- ^ Steele, Jeremy W., "Refurbished Lansing power plant's lights to live on" Jackson Citizen Patriot (April 6, 2009)
- ^ "Weekly List Actions". National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
External links
- "Ottawa Street Power Station Receives National Designation: New Accident Fund Headquarters Added to National Register of Historic Places", March 18, 2009, a press release at Accident Fund, the owner
| Topics | |
|---|---|
| Lists by state |
|
| Lists by insular areas | |
| Lists by associated state | |
| Other areas | |
| Related | |
