A piece of city history falls a letter at a time
By Susan Stock, Lansing State Journal
Originally published 11/10/2001

People walking past the intersection of Washington Avenue and Allegan Street couldn't stop staring skyward on Friday.

The Michigan National Bank Tower was losing its 47-year-old landmark sign, one letter at a time.

The N at the end of Michigan was removed first, around 8:30 a.m. Nearly six hours later, about 2:20 p.m., the M was the last letter lowered to a truck on the street.

Mary Kay Shields of DeWitt, who works on the 15th floor of the 23-floor tower, stood watching in the closed-down lanes of Allegan Street.

"They may change it, but people will still say, 'Meet me at the Michigan National Tower,'" she said.

A 330-foot crane was brought in from Southfield to remove the letters, standing 4.5 feet tall and weighing 200 to 300 pounds each, said project foreman Erik Dahl of Gardner Signs of Troy.

The crane was moved into place outside the tower at 124 W. Allegan St. on Thursday, but work on the sign didn't begin until early the following morning.

"We decided to leave the sign lit for one last night," Dahl said. "We feel bad about taking the sign down."

It took about 20 minutes to remove each letter, with workers attaching the letter to the crane and then cutting the bolts that held the sign to the tower.

Most of the letters, which are made from porcelain enamel and red neon, had to be scrapped.

"They're well-made but they're old," Dahl said. "The only way they'd be any good right now is if they were made from stainless steel."

But the condition of the letters didn't stop people from asking workers for a souvenir. They were all turned away.

Tahl Victor of Lansing said he wanted to have a piece of history.

"Think about how cool it would be to have one of those things for a night light," he said.

Three of the letters were saved in case a museum wants them, said Ron Boji, who owns the tower with his father, Louie Boji.

The sign is being removed because of the merger between Standard Federal Bank and Michigan National Bank in October.

During the merger, Standard Federal took over 137 Michigan National Bank branches and the accounts of 400,000 Michigan National Bank customers.

Since the bank no longer exists, the tower's name needed to be changed and the sign removed, said John Truscott, the Boji's spokesman.

Standard Federal paid to have the sign removed, but neither Truscott not the Bojis knew how much the project cost.

Some people weren't sad to see the sign go. Larry Steckelberg of Leslie said he was more intrigued with watching the crane work.

"I can't get nostalgic for a bank that's part of an international conglomerate," he said referring to Standard Federal's parent bank in the Netherlands. "The building's still there. They're just changing the name."

It is unknown what the tower's new name will be, but the final call belongs to Ron Boji.

"Within six months or so, I'd like a name," he said. "There may not be a sign, but I'd like to have name by then."

The metal catwalk to which the letters were attached will stay up in case there is a new sign, Dahl said.

The Boji Group received many calls regarding the tower's name, Boji said. There will probably be a focus group soon, including city officials and community members to discuss the matter.

The tower was originally named after R.E. Olds, the founder of Oldsmobile and the man who had the tower built in 1929. The name was changed in 1954 when the Olds family sold the building to Michigan National Bank.

One of the biggest supporters of restoring the Olds Tower name is Duane Allen, a trustee and former president of the RE Olds Museum.

"I can't imagine anyone saying it should be anything different," he said. Boji said he has a great respect for the Olds family and keeps a biography of RE Olds in his office. "But things also always change," he said.

The building may be expanded in the future to accommodate more tenants, Boji said.

"We'll possibly be adding onto the building once it becomes economically viable," he said.

"We're not going back to make things look worse. We're going forward to make it look even more impressive."

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