Lansing Mayor Andy Schor used his State of the City address on Tuesday to tout major investments and present a vision for a more resilient Capital City.
Schor gave his speech at Grewal Hall, a new entertainment hall downtown in Washington Square. He said the city is poised to capitalize on an influx of public and private funding to deliver for its residents.
“We'll have the jobs of the present and the future, and we'll have the training and the education to help people build wealth throughout our city. We'll have extensive neighborhood resources, with thriving corridors and business districts," Schor said. "We'll have the amenities for the people that come here, and the sustainability measures that are necessary for our community as well as our planet."
The mayor thanked state officials for enacting a budget last year that allocated hundreds of millions of dollars to the city, with support for a workforce housing and retail project downtown, improvements to city hall, expanded accommodations for homeless people and the restoration of a historic community pool.
Federal funds are going toward establishing an electric vehicle charging network and redesigning Michigan Avenue to add bike lanes and remove a driving lane.
He said the city will be requesting more state and federal support to redevelop the Logan Square shopping center and to support Old Town and firefighters.
"We'll continue to advocate for state and federal dollars. If they're out there, they're going somewhere and I would rather them come here than any other community," Schor said. "We're doing pretty well when it comes to grant money and dollars that we can use for future projects to continue to grow Lansing, we're gonna continue to do that. It's important to bring in the resources to grow our city."
Schor also highlighted a $2.6 billion Ultium Cells plan to create an EV battery plant in Lansing.
"We expect to build...these EV cars and meet make ourselves the EV capital city," he said.
Schor said he will continue to work with City Council to address concerns they've expressed with his administration's proposals, including for a new city hall and the Ovation performing arts venue.
The council, asking for more time to consider the plan and hear from residents, rejected plans on Monday to purchase the Masonic Temple building, which would allow officials to relocate there and potentially convert the current city hall into a hotel. They also voted down a plan to fund the entertainment space while supporting a nonbinding resolution urging the project to be self-sustaining and not require a city subsidy.
Schor called on the state to provide more funding to repair roads and sidewalks. He also urged officials to pass laws to give local governments more authority over how they enforce firearm restrictions and allocate a portion of sales tax revenue to fund public safety, a move he said that would allow the city to hire more police officers.
