By Kevin Lavery, WKAR News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkar/local-wkar-915617.mp3
Lansing, MI – A Lansing eyesore with a history of crime will become a public art gallery this week. The project will give the building a new look before it's finally destroyed.
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The Deluxe Inn alongside I-496 near downtown Lansing was known for years at a hotbed for drugs, prostitution and murder. The Ingham County Land Bank bought it in a foreclosure last September.
Director Eric Schertzing says it was clear then that the inn's days were numbered.
"I think the community, the neighbors, county and city government were all convinced that this building was just cursed," Schertzing says. "Bad buildings like this that aren't historic just need to come down."
Over the next 10 days, some 30 artists will try to make its walls look a little more Monet than motel. With spray cans in hand, they'll adorn the inn with a classic urban genre - graffiti.
"It was a place for crime; it was a crime magnet," says Joe Manzella, the project's coordinator. "And what we're trying to do is help Lansing reclaim this place. I mean, before we let it go into the dump, we want to take it back, make it ours, and then truly let it go."
Sam DeBourbon is among those who'll make the building his canvass. He's a recent art school graduate with a growing graffiti portfolio.
"I'm just riding the wave of my art degree and doing what I can with it," he says.
The art project runs until August 8. The Deluxe Inn will be partially demolished to become a training site for city firefighters. By September, the entire structure will be destroyed to clear the way for redevelopment proposals.