Former Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge

55 28th St. SW
Grand Rapids, MI

This property is definitely not abandoned, but I felt I just had to include it on Forgotten Michigan.

This complex was built sometime in the 1960's as a Howard Johnson's motor lodge/restaurant combo. The motel stayed a Howard Johnson's into the 1980s, maybe even the 1990s. It is now a Knights Inn. Howard Johnson's moved to an old Holiday Inn nearby after leaving here. (A similar situation happened in Benton Harbor, MI, but the Holiday Inn-turned-HoJo’s is now a Best Value Inn.)

This seems like kind of an odd location for a Howard Johnsons -- although it's rather centrally located for Grand Rapids, it's almost a full mile from the US-131 interchange, and the lot is an odd shape, boxed in on all sides. Usually, Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges were put in locations right at the exit.

The restaurant was not so lucky, having lost its Howard Johnson's status before the motel did. In fact, Rich Kummerlowe theorizes that maybe the restaurant burned down around 1980, as the current restaurant building is a Mansard roof style. The restaurant, now called Casey Stengel's, still looks somewhat HoJo-ish inside and out, even retaining an orange roof. I have actually eaten at Casey's once. The food was good, just as one would expect from a former Howard Johnsons. The restaurant even seemed to be furnished with Landmark furniture!

Here are some small photos culled from Knights Inn’s webpage.


The gate lodge is intact (or it was at the time). The beacon has been decapitated, but you can't always have it all.


The room doesn’t look too HoJo-ish (except for the cathedral ceiling), but still looks nice.


The pool rretains the kidney bean shape that I've seen at most former Howard Johnson's Motor Lodges.


Here’s a map I drew of the area around the Motor Lodge.

(1) is the Knights Inn itself.
(1B) is the Gate Lodge. Still intact, though painted a really ugly green.
(2) is Casey Stengel’s, still sporting an orange roof!
(3) is not part of the property, but I just had to include it. It’s a dead Kmart that closed I don’t know how long ago.

(Not shown in between Kmart and Casey Stengel's, there is a new-ish Ramada Limited that used to be a Comfort Suites.)
Rich K. also notes that when he visited here, the Knights Inn was being remodeled, and HoJo era furniture was being thrown away. He adds that the staff of the Inn was most unfriendly.
If you linked here from America's Landmark: Under the Orange Roof, click here to go back.
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