Local residents will have a chance to go down memory lane -- or see the story for the first time themselves - of the downtown Grand Rapids Urban Renewal Project (circa: 1955-70) when a showing of old photographs is held tonight.
Donald Bratt will narrate a slide show featuring 280 colored photographs taken by his late father, Hero, starting at 7 p.m. Thursday, January 14 at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum, 303 Pearl St. NW. It will be the first time about 50 photographs have ever been presented to the public.
Sponsored by the Grand Rapids Historical Society and co-sponsored by the Museum, the program is free and open to the public. Parking is free, too.
According to excerpts from the story:
Bratt's father, Hero D. Bratt, was the only person known to have photographed virtually every building affected by the controversial Downtown Urban Renewal Project that bulldozed more than 100 old buildings in the central business district deemed by some to be "eyesores".
Read the complete story here
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.