HOW DICK JR. SAVED RIVER CITY

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April 06, 2006

I saw the latest campaign ad for Dick Jr.'s run for governor. It opens with photographs of a dilapidated downtown Grand Rapids circa 1970, which Dick DeVos credits himself for rescuing from its pit of despair. Other than Dick Jr. being barely out of short pants when he allegedly began his program to renovate downtown, there's the inconvenient fact that the Amway co-founders, his father Rich DeVos and the late Jay Van Andel, took the credit for everything. Well, maybe Dick Jr. was working behind the scenes.

Even so, I think there were other factors involved in bringing downtown out its funk of the '70s. For example, the strong economy of the '80s and '90s that brought renewal to city centers across the country. But, I'll let Dick Jr. have credit for all the glory of a reinvigorated downtown Grand Rapids, if he makes public all of the benefits he, his family, and the Van Andels have reaped from their involvement in downtown development projects.

Posted on April 06, 2006 at 10:53 AM in Project: Pyramid Power | Permalink

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True, DeVos' ads tout his personal achievements a tad early, I was in a meeting in the late 1980s where he clearly was interested in improving Heartside and the near downtown. Grand Action was really a result of many people like DeVos looking for a way to improve downtown Grand Rapids.

Posted by: Les | April 13, 2006 at 03:49 PM

Hi, Les.

You make a good point. I think Dick Jr. can be proud of his Grand Action work. It is unfortunate (for him) that he has diminished it by exaggerating his role in downtown redevelopment.

Thanks for the input.

Best regards,
Bill Tingley
Executive Director, L.A.W.

Posted by: The Executive Director | April 14, 2006 at 09:04 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

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