Eye Candy of the Week: Sparrow St. Lawrence Hospital 

Drive too fast on Saginaw Street and you might miss this week’s Eye Candy: the Sparrow St. Lawrence Hospital near Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The southeast section of the campus shown above is tucked back a hundred feet or so from the road. It has a modest courtyard that softens the masonry-heavy structure, but its trees and shrubs conceal some of the building’s best features from a passing glance. A more purposeful look reveals an array of architectural details and character.  

At ground level, five masonry arches extend from the base of the main structure. With floor-to-ceiling windows and bulky masonry framework, this addition would feel foreign to the rest of the structure, if not for the commensurately arched windows on the top floor. Between these two rows of pleasant arches are columns of windows separated by limestone and surrounded by varying depths of brickwork. The interwoven limestone throughout the façade is a wonderful detail that is hard to come by in modern buildings.  

To top it off, the original cross of the 1924 building still stands at the center of the roofline. Directly below it, an arched cavity holds what appears to be the original statue as well, albeit it with a fresh coat of gold paint. 

“Eye Candy of the Week” is our look at some of the nicer properties in Lansing. 

It rotates with Eyesore of the Week and Eye for Design. If you have a suggestion, please e-mail eye@lansingcitypulse.com or call Berl Schwartz at 999-5061.