East Lansing City Council to vote on major changes for downtown dining

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - If you plan to visit East Lansing you may notice some changes in the month of June. Last year, the City Council tested a project for two weeks with outdoor dining. This year, they want to bring that back but with some new changes.

Anthony Carano is a manager at Barrios.

“Anything to give people a reason to come to downtown East Lansing in the summer is a great thing because we know how dramatically the business declines when students aren’t here,” Carano said. “Our to-go sales really ramped up that week and it was a great experience for us. I thought it brought a lot of people down here and gave them a reason to come down here in the summer.”

If the proposal is approved the city plans to make other improvements to make this part of Albert better for socializing and events. Adam Cummins is the Community and Economic Development Administrator for East Lansing. He explained some of the improvements the city is considering.

“We’re looking at options for shade, installing seating, lighting throughout this area and evaluating and planning a lot of programming to implement in this area,” Cummins said. “Including music.”

While it will take some parking spots away, the expansion isn’t expected to block access to any businesses or homes.

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