Modern Driving Tour:
Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids boasts many Modernist sites in the City proper. It can also serve as a fantastic “home base” to explore Modern gems in some of the smaller nearby towns, most notably along the Lakeshore. (see Driving Tour | Lakeshore)
SW MI Co-Chairs: Katherine White & Pam VanderPloeg
Special thanks to Pam VanderPloeg, website curator of ArchitectureGrandRapids.org and author of Grand Rapids Downtown Buildings c. 2021
AC Hotel | 50 Monroe Ave NW The modern interior of the AC Hotel includes a library with custom-designed Eames lounge chairs. The building was once part of the 19th-century Grand Rapids Refrigerator Company complex. The three buildings were recently separated and the original brick facade was revealed and repaired by the Rockford Construction Company.
Morton Hotel | 55 Ionia Ave NW The historic 1923 Morton House reopened in 2021 as a dog-friendly hotel and features “Bauhaus-inspired” interiors that were designed by Gensler. The original building was designed by famed Chicago architects Holabird & Roche.
The Commons | 547 Cherry St SE Suite C Restaurant Known as Oakwood Manor when it was constructed in 1923, these were considered elegant apartments. The Commons was established in 2018 in the lower level of the building. The restaurant offers a “throwback twist on American classic comfort food’ with a 1970s vibe featuring MCM furniture + accessories.
Grand Rapids City Hall | 200 Monroe NW + Kent County Administration Building | 300 Monroe NW The SOM-designed building stands at ten stories, while the admin building is three stories. Both were built in 1969. The NW side of the buildings look out onto Vandenberg Plaza and a popular piece of public art made by artist Alexander Calder.
Vandenberg Plaza Vandenberg Plaza is home to the monumental bright red Alexander Calder sculpture “La Grande Vitesse,” the city symbol commonly referred to as “the Calder.”
Union Bank Building | 300 Ottawa NW This building also has a great view of the Calder sculpture, and overlooks the plaza. Built in 1966, it was designed by Carson, Lundin, Shaw with associate architect David Post.
Kent County Court Offices | 320 Ottawa Ave. NW Formerly known as the Michigan Title Building, this structure was built in 1965.
State Office Building | 350 Ottawa Ave. NW This high-rise was built in 1976. The architects were Daverman Associates. The State Office Building was built within the same timeframe as the Michigan Title Office.
DTLR/VIlla | 4 E. Fulton Shop downtown in the 1949 restored Moderne building. The building designed by Architect Wilifred McLaughlin was constructed for the Davenport Institute, a business college founded in 1866 as Grand Rapids Business College. It eventually became Davenport University. The building was vacant from 1998 and in 2011 was open for the display of the ArtPrize/SiteLab exhibit. In 2013 it was restored by architects Tower Pinkster and earned Platinum level LEED certification.
Temple Emanuel | 1715 E. Fulton A midcentury masterpiece designed by architect Eric Mendelsohn 1952-1955. Temple Emanuel sits at a slight angle to the street. The full-length clerestory windows on the second level are separated by a vertical element creating the illusion of wings - one reference being to a bird in flight. The windows flood the interior with light. The yellow brick and white trim facade is approached via a deep covered walkway. An original sculpture by Carl Albert separates the two sets of glazed double doors under the deep projecting entry roof. The interior features a recently restored 1000 square foot mural created by painter Lucienne Bloch Dimitroff, protégé of Diego Rivera, decorated with important symbols of the faith. Beautiful burnished wood walls are movable.
Cakabakery | 919 E Fulton Stop for something sweet at the bakery, built in 1958. The modern two-story office building with glass curtain wall and floating stairway was built by contractor John E. Vandenberg.
8th Day Gym | 125 Market This early 1960s MCM building with its distinctive folded plate roof was built for Ronda Tire, a facility designed to retread and sell tires. The architect was E. John Knapp AIA of O’Bryon & Knapp who later became an expert in veterinarian hospital design in Wisconsin and died in Jefferson City, Kansas at the age of 100.
Metal Arts Studio | 978 Cherry St SE Shop for custom-designed jewelry at the studio, built in 1957. It's a former Old Kent Bank Branch building. The restoration undid a renovation that had imposed a windowless facade over the original design. In the last 20 years, Cherry Street has become a hub of bars, eateries, and shopping.
Boland Building | 1331 Lake Dr. SE 1 Join a hot Yoga class in the multi-level MCM 957 constructed by the Boland Building Company as an office building. It is located in the heart of the historic Eastown neighborhood, home to many popular restaurants and shops.
Lafontsee Gallery | 833 Lake Dr SE Enjoy the current exhibits, have a painting or print framed or shop at the popular gift boutique, built in 1963. The two-story building constructed by Russell Donker Engineering was known by city residents for years as the Lake Drive Medical Building.
Post Office Buy stamps at the ultra-modernist U.S. Post Office 1962 designed by J. &. G. Daverman. It was in this new post office, a product of Grand Rapids urban renewal, that the innovative new zip code sorting program was unveiled. Mail a postcard there about your Travel and Leisure MCM tour.
Across the river is Clique Lanes | 533 Stocking Ave NE This complex, built in 1953, is a 16-lane bi-level lane bowling center-- one of only a handful of double-decker bowling lanes in Michigan. It was named one of the top 10 bowling centers in the state, and although it has a retro feel, it features updated tech throughout.
The Fanatorium Building | 40 Jefferson SE Built in 1949, a bowling arena is now the Catholic Charities Offices. Here Marian Ladewig, nationally known as the “Queen of Bowling” trained and played nearly everyday during her career. The building was renovated in 2000 by Cornerstone Architects.
Northfield Lanes | 2222 Plainfield Ave NE The bowling lanes opened around 1947. The bowling center has 16 lanes, billiards tables and a sports bar. Marion Ladewig, who was named Female Bowler of the Year nine times between 1940 and 1963, was part-owner for many years.
Lucy’s Cafe | 1747 Plainfield Ave NE Down the street from Northfield Lanes is Lucy's Cafe. Built in 1958, it was originally constructed in three phases (1958-1963) as a Daane’s Food Market. It became D’Amicos Food Market in 1978 when Rose D’Amico purchased the building after winning the lottery according to an article in the Grand Rapids Press. This Plainfield institution closed finally in 2011 and this building in the Grand Rapids Creston Neighborhood stood vacant. In 2015 Larry Zeiser and Brian Giampapa invested over a $1 Million in the renovation that converted the market into a popular breakfast and lunch restaurant in the one-story building and a bistro that later became an event venue in the adjacent two-story building.
Woodland Airstream | 5190 Plainfield Ave. This site was originally the Woodland Trailer Center. Built in 1966, it was one of the first buildings in the nation with an indoor showroom and a service facility specifically designed to sell and service travel trailers and campers. They sold the airstream trailers or caravans that became highly popular with their distinctive rounded polished aluminum style. Woodland AIrstream’s glass fronted sales/service area was designed in the early 1960s as the dealer’s modern main showroom by award-winning Grand Rapids church architect Edgar Firant. Today it is the Woodland Airstream and there you can buy a new or vintage airstream at one of the oldest continuously operated airstream dealerships in the country.
Wealthy Street Modern Service Stations
In the last twenty years, abandoned service stations on historic Wealthy Street SE have been renovated and repurposed. Wealthy Street is a busy Grand Rapids east-west corridor full of historic homes, dotted with commercial buildings, and home to a large number of trendy restaurants—even a coffee trailer. The old service stations were traditionally built on busy corners to attract motorist’s attention. These buildings are right-sized for restaurants and, being located in close proximity to one another, they create a real draw for pedestrians and motorists. The buildings date from the 1920s through the 1950s. Architectural styles range from Spanish/Mediterranean to Moderne and Mid-century Modern. Reinvestment in the Wealthy Street neighborhood has created an eclectic mix of renovated buildings with great shopping, dining, and coffee shops. Not all of the buildings are MCM.
Little Caesars Pizza | 1200 Wealthy St SE This building was constructed in 1925.
Hancock | 1157 Wealthy St SE This restaurant was built in 1954.
Lee & Birch | 759 Wealthy St SE This boutique was built in 1936.
Royals | 701 Wealthy St SE This eatery was once a Standard Oil Station, and was established in 1955.
Donkey Taqueria | 665 Wealthy St. SE This eatery was originally built in 1935.
Plant Shop (1056 Wealthy St SE The building that houses this botanical boutique was constructed in 1928.