Lansing Downtown Historic District

The J.W. Knapp Company Building is a historic five-story, 190,000-square-foot (18,000 m2) Streamline Moderne building in Lansing, Michigan, United States. Designed by Orlie Munson of the Bowd–Munson Company, which also designed several other Art Deco landmarks in Lansing, including the Ottawa Street Power Station, it was constructed by the Christman Company in 1937 through 1938. The curvilinear look of the streamlined structure comes from huge plates of concrete faced with enamel, called "Maul Macotta", a copyrighted product of the Maul Macotta Company and prismatic glass brick windows. Alternating horizontal bands of yellow macotta and glass block are interrupted by vertical blue macotta pylons, rising from the building's four principal entrances. The pylons are pierced by windows. The entrance portals, display window aprons, and decorative banding are dark blue macotta. Red, yellow and blue spandrels, incorporating the letter "K" as a design element, decorate the entrance portals.The building housed the main department store of the Lansing-based J.W. Knapp Company. When completed in 1939, it was hailed in the contemporary press as "the most modern building in the Midwest". Today, it is considered to be one of the finest intact examples of Streamline Art Moderne commercial buildings in the Midwest, notable for its size, clarity of design and brilliant colors. The western end of the building was enlarged in 1949.The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on May 21, 1983.The Eyde Company, a local developer, purchased the building in 1983, and converted most of its selling floors to state government offices, renaming it the "Knapp's Center". The state offices moved out in 2003. During the holiday season, the storefront windows are used by the MSU Museum to display historic Santa Claus advertising cutouts in connection with the city's Silver Bells Parade.Various proposals for redevelopment of the building were considered, including a failed bid in 2004 to house the Michigan Department of Community Health, and a 2008 proposal to convert the building to a performing arts center. During the 2008–2009 academic year, the Michigan State University interior design program used the redevelopment of the building as the basis for its senior thesis. Resulting proposals included a variety of commercial and residential uses.In 2010, plans were announced to redevelop the building for mixed residential, office and commercial use, subject to obtaining necessary governmental permits and obtaining tax credits, loans and grants, with construction initially planned to commence in 2011 and to be completed in 2013. The bands of glass block which give the building an external appearance of lightness, present a barrier to redevelopment due to the lack of outside views for prospective tenants. The redevelopment proposals include cutting a four-story glass atrium covered with a skylight from the second through fifth floors to give the interior more light, as well as replacement of the Maul Macotta panels, which have suffered water damage due to a design flaw in the metal banding not apparent in 1937 when they were installed, with modern metal or concrete counterparts. Construction eventually began in December 2012, with a 14-month construction schedule and a $36.5 million budget. The construction is now completed, and the building is home to numerous offices, shops, and apartments.

The Masonic Temple Building, located at 217 South Capitol Avenue in Lansing, Michigan, is a former Masonic building constructed in 1924. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The Boji Tower, also known as the Michigan National Bank Building, is a historic 23-story building located at 124 Allegan Street, in Lansing, Michigan. It has been the tallest building in Lansing since its completion in 1931. On December 6, 2005, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Capital Bank Tower.

Cooley Law School (Cooley) is a private law school in Lansing, Michigan, and Riverview, Florida. It was established in 1972. At its peak in 2010, Cooley had over 3,900 students and was the largest US law school by enrollment; as of the Spring of 2022, Cooley had approximately 500 students between its two campuses. In November 2020, Western Michigan University's board of trustees voted to end its affiliation with Cooley, which began in 2014, with disassociation effective November 5, 2023. As of 2023, Cooley has failed to reach the 75% two year bar passage required of ABA Standard 316 for continued accreditation.

The Strand Theatre and Arcade, also known as the Michigan Theatre and Arcade, is a former theatre building located at 211–219 South Washington Avenue in Lansing, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

The George W. Romney Building - ("The Romney Building") is the Governor of Michigan's main office, and houses other State of Michigan offices. The building, formerly a hotel, is named after George W. Romney, the 43rd Governor and father of Mitt Romney. The building has a ten-story atrium, beginning on the fourth floor.

The Arbaugh is a mixed-use building containing 48 loft-style apartments, which was originally built as a department store. The building is located at 401 South Washington in Lansing, Michigan. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2007.

The Michigan Walk of Fame, styled on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame, honors Michigan residents, past or present, who have made significant contributions to the state or nation. Located along central Lansing's Washington Square, it aimed to be the first comprehensive Walk of Fame in the nation to honor the contributions of its residents on a statewide basis. Nominations were accepted from people around the state and nation. The first group of Michigan Walk of Fame's inductees were honored on May 25, 2006, during Michigan Week. The 2006 inductees were announced on March 14. Stevie Wonder, Helen Thomas, Jeff Daniels, Dick Ford (Gerald Ford's brother), and many others attended the May 25 event to be formally inducted. The intent was for twelve to be added annually.The second group of inductees was announced in fall 2007. The Walk of Fame was discontinued after 2007.

The Lansing Art Gallery ("LAG") is a nonprofit art gallery located in downtown Lansing, Michigan, USA. LAG offers a meeting space for other arts organizations, exhibition facilities, memberships for individuals and businesses, art competitions, education outreach, "Art Smart" after-school classes, Art Scholarship Alert, high school competition, summer art camps, workshops, artist demonstrations, and lectures. In addition to sales, LAG offers art rental/lending, and actively markets those services to local businesses.

Shuto Con was an annual three day anime convention held during March at the Radisson Hotel Lansing at the Capitol in Lansing, Michigan. The convention's name stands for Capital City Convention. The organizers have also hosted Random Battle Con, a video game convention.

The Michigan House of Representatives is the lower house of the Michigan Legislature. There are 110 members, each of whom is elected from constituencies having approximately 77,000 to 91,000 residents, based on population figures from the 2020 U.S. census. Its composition, powers and duties are established in Article IV of the Michigan Constitution. Members are elected in even-numbered years and take office at 12 p.m. (EST) on January 1 following the November general election. Concurrently with the Michigan Senate, the House first convenes on the second Wednesday in January, according to the state constitution. Each member is limited to serving at most six terms of two years, but may not serve more than twelve years combined across the Michigan House and Michigan Senate. The House meets in the north wing of the Michigan Capitol in Lansing. The Democratic Party currently has a majority in the chamber. In recent years, the Republican majority in the House has been widely attributed to Republican gerrymandering, implemented by the legislature after the 2010 census. In many legislative elections since then, the Democratic Party has won the popular vote, but nonetheless failed to attain a majority. However, after the passage of Proposal 2, a 2018 ballot initiative, redistricting in the state was instead delegated to a nonpartisan commission, which drew new maps after the 2020 census. Aided by the redrawn district lines, in 2022, Democrats won a majority in the House for the first time since 2008.

The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of an upper chamber, the Senate, and a lower chamber, the House of Representatives. Article IV of the Michigan Constitution, adopted in 1963, defines the role of the Legislature and how it is to be constituted. The chief purposes of the Legislature are to enact new laws and amend or repeal existing laws. The Legislature meets in the Capitol building in Lansing. The 102nd Michigan Legislature was sworn in on January 11, 2023.