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City of Kalamazoo. Radisson Plaza Hotel at Kalamazoo Center flying saucers and KVCC Center for New Media Arcus Gallery. YWCA expansion and Arcus Foundation in the old Whistlestop and Warehouse. The State Theatre and Harvey's on the Mall are not on the downtown Kalamazoo Mall, but Burdick Street immediately to the south. DKI is an acronym for Downtown Kalamazoo Incorporated. It now goes by the more generic name Central City. The Kalamazoo Valley Museum and Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Arcadia campus are located on North Rose Street. Central City Parking, Arcadia Festival Site, and the Rickman House are nearby. Mr. President's Club, which overlooks the Arcadia Festival Site, remains available for sale or lease. North along Kalamazoo Avenue are Shakespeare's Pub, Kalamazoo Gospel Mission homeless shelter, Kalamazoo Intermodal Transit Center (Metro Transit buses, Greyhound and Indian Trails buses, Amtrak, taxi stand), Ministry with Community homeless drop in center, Park Trades Center (former Saniwax building), Kalamazoo Community Mental Health, and the Rootbeer Stand. Titus Bronson was Kalamazoo's first settler. A historic marker indicates the approximate location of his cabin. The marker is located in the parking lot immediately south of the West Michigan Cancer Center. Titus was not liked by later settlers and the town was renamed Kalamazoo. Kalamazoo may have also went by the name Burr Oak early on. That name survives as a street in the Vine Neighborhood. Bronson's name survives as the downtown centerpiece Bronson Park (interestingly owned by the County, but maintained by the City), Bronson Hospital, and Bronson Boulevard. Borgess Hospital is the other major health center in Kalamazoo. South Street Historic District. Gibson Guitars were built in the Northside Neighborhood. Remnants of Gibson include Heritage Guitars and ProCo. The Stuart Historic District contains Woodward Elementary School where Wendy's restaurant founder Dave Thomas attended. Wendy's was supposidely inspired by Kupee's restaurant that was on the Kalamazoo Mall at South Street when he was young. The first Wendy's in Michigan opened in 1974 on East Michigan Avenue at North Edwards Street. It closed in December 2003 and has since been razed. Hot N Now Hamburgers. Jim Gilmore Racing and Broadcasting says Roar with Gilmore. The West Douglas Neighborhood was renamed Fairmount Neighborhood. The biggest thing going in there in recent years are the efforts to turn the city park on Prarie into a dog park. The West Main Hill neighborhood was recently designated a historic district last month. This is good for properties like the Henderson Castle, but not good for properties that have been converted into student rentals. Kalamazoo College (kzoo edu kazoo) is Michigan's oldest college. It is located on Academy Street and they are the Hornets. The Western Michigan University Broncos are nearby, formerly the Hilltoppers when they were only on the Historic East Campus. WMU got its brown and gold school colors from the Brown Eyed Susan flowers that grew wild on Prospect Hill. TBW and wmich. There are always students going to school looking for apartments, homes, roommates, and offering subleases and sublets. Businesses gone but not forgotten in the WMU campus area include Knollwood Tavern, Taco Grande, Dairy Mart, and Old Kent Bank. The Michigan National Bank ATM changed names to Standard Federal Bank, LaSalle Bank, and is now changing to Bank of America. The Discount Den was located next to the Knollwood Tavern. The original building was razed in about 1998 and the business has since moved to Campus Pointe Mall II as The Den Party store, after residing at the original Campus Pointe Mall in between. Galley Subs Submarine Sandwiches was razed, but the name and logo carry on inside Suds-N-Duds Laundry, the only long term tenant in University Plaza. Waldo Tavern remains on the other side of campus. I think I heard it used to be called the Greenlight or Gaslight Bar. The Lafayette Tap Room appeared after the Knollwood Tavern was razed. It's now the Y Bar. You can play disc golf at Knollwood Park in the Knollwood Neighborhood. The other side of West Michigan Avenue is the Arcadia Neighborhood. The only things located there are Arcadia Elementary School and a church. Across Stadium Drive is the Winchell Neighborhood and Winchell Elementary School. Woods Lake and Woods Lake Elementary School are in the adjacent Oakwood Neighborhood by D & W Foods. The Westnedge Hill Neighborhood should be having their neighborhood yard sale soon. The Eastside and Edison neighborhoods have a reputation as being the most dangerous and crime ridden in the city, with streets like Hazard, Trumbull, Mills, Washington, and Hays Park. I think Milwood Neighborhood was most recently annexed by the city (like in the 1940s or 1950s) and a lot of baby boomers have fond memories of living there. I've heard Elvis Presley's second to last performance before dying was at Wings Stadium, home of Kalamazoo Wings K-Wings Ice Hockey since about 1974. I assume Bill Wright's Kalamazoo Kings baseball got its name as a derivative of K-Wings. Kalamazoo Township lies to the north and northeast of the City of Kalamazoo. The iconic Checker Cab was manfactured in the Northwood Neighborhood until about 1982. These were most often turned into the Yellow Cabs seen in many cities. Kalamazoo took advantage of this taxi heritage with Hail Kalamazoo that was like the bulls placed all around Chicago or peaches around Atlanta. The Kalamazoo County Fairgrounds, jail, and animal control are in the Lakewood Neighborhood. The Eastwood Neighborhood contains the former Nazareth College, which has its own zip code, 49074. Davenport University (formerly Davenport College) is located on the edge of the Westwood Neighborhood. The City of Parchment was founded on the now defunct paper industry. The City of Portage contains Southwest Michigan's major retail center, accessable by I-94 and Westnedge Avenue. This is why U. S. Representative Fred Upton says Westnedge Avenue and Milham Road is the busiest intersection in all of Southwest Michigan. Interstate 94 is currently being widened to 3 lanes through this heavy city traffic area. The Crossroads Mall opened in 1980. The Southland Mall is much older and has recently experienced a major exterior renovation. Mr. B's Wearhouse moved from Kalamazoo to Portage in about October 2002. It is located in the former Jack Loek's Plaza 2 movie theatre. The original Mr. B's location was 1000 West Michigan Avenue in Kalamazoo where Super Cuts has been located for over a decade. One proposed name for Mr. B's was Ed's Threads, which would have dated the store to its 1970s founding. Pfizer is a major employer in Portage. Within a decade, it changed names from The Upjohn Company to Pharmacia and Upjohn to Pharmacia (after the acquision of Monsanto) to Pfizer. The Kalamazoo Aviation and Space Museum, Air Zoo, is not located in Kalamazoo, but Portage. However, the Kalamazoo Battle Creek International Airport, AZO, is located in the City of Kalamazoo; land that would be in Portage had the city not annexed it. Portage has a fantastic public parks system, including Portage Creek Bicentennial Park, Millennium Park, and Celery Flats. Oshtemo Township borders Kalamazoo to the west and is the fastest growing Township in the county and the second fastest growing in Southwest Michigan. Students in the eastern part of the township are in the Kalamazoo Public Schools district. The Kalamazoo Promise will most benefit Oshtemo Township as it has the most land on which to build new housing. This is also why the school district's first new buildings in 35 years are currently under construction in Oshtemo. The western part of Oshtemo Township is in the Mattawan Public School District, based in another county. Texas Corners is the central area of Texas Township. The township experienced much residential construction during the 1990s due to its location in the Portage School District. Texas Township was previously known for its camps and preserves, including the Rota-Kiwan Boy Scout Reservation and Al Sabo Land Preserve. Before all the growth in Texas Corners, the church at the corner of Texas Drive and 8th Street was a landmark. The Boy Scout Order of the Arrow has their annual EC2B meetings at Rota-Kiwan. Kalamazoo Valley Community College, KVCC Cougars, borders Rota-Kiwan to the north. Comstock Township has a business park that contains Bell's Brewery way in the back far from M-96 (Michigan Avenue), even though the address is Galesburg. Hickory Ridge Golf Course is nearby if you visit the brewery. Comstock Public Schools have experienced the most student loss to Kalamazoo Public Schools as a result of the Kalamazoo Promise. The City of Galesburg rides the western border of Charleston Township. Galesburg Augusta Schools opened a new high school in about 2003, located more between the two towns, but still closer to Galesburg. Galesburg Ford and Benteler Automotive have Galesburg addresses, but they are located in Comstock Township. The Galesburg Speedway and Target distribution center are east of the City of Galesburg. Like Galesburg, the Village of Augusta is just barely in its township, Ross Township. Augusta is most known for the Barn Theatre, located along M-96 in Chaleston Township. Richland Township contains the Village of Richland and Gull Lake. Richland is often referred to as a bedroom community. The Gull Lake School District has a good reputation.
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