The Burning of Spartan Corporation, Jackson: 2023

The building depicted here was the former Sparks-Withington Company, which was also known as the Spartan Corporation that manufactured Spartan Radios. Not only that, but they also came up with the very first electric car horn in the early 1900s.

And now it’s gone. A fire in August 2023 saw to that. It remains a shell of its former self, reminding all passersby of its heyday. As for taking care of what’s left, demolition is supposed to take place no later than fall of 2025 or as early as spring...we’ll have to wait and see.

Sitting across from the old Jackson Armory on W. North Street, it’s a dangerous place for any wannabe “explorers” (a/k/a trespassers).

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A grant in the amount of three million dollars has been granted for demolition thanks to the Jackson County Land Bank and the State of Michigan.

Environmental and safety concerns – thanks to the possible contact with asbestos - loom heavily in the area and will probably continue until the skeletal structure is eradicated.

Once it’s all gone, then what? A public park? A parking lot? A fast food joint? We’ll see. Scroll down to the gallery which includes photos of the building as it burned back in August 2023...