Lansing’s Life O’Riley Mobile Home Park: Evacuated, Abandoned, and Demolished

The old Life O'Riley Mobile Home Park, 6726 S. Washington Avenue in Lansing, had major problems in the early 2010s and now it's been gone since 2017.

Whalen Holdings was responsible for the park, and owed the city of Lansing thousands of dollars:
Ingham County, $81,100
Lansing, $52,000
Board of Water & Light, $123,057

Some mobile home owners were given an ultimatum: move your unit or it will be demolished. This threat was based on the condition of the homes, which were described as “eyesores”.

Life O'Riley was shut down and evacuated in February 2014 for health and safety violations. This created a local housing crisis which affected the city of Lansing – and the State of Michigan – financially.

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Once the park was evacuated of its approximately 200 residents, the mobile homes sat abandoned and deteriorating, with many belongings left behind in the rush to get out.

Neighbors were anxious for the park to be completely destroyed and devoid of the rotting homes, and finally in the spring of 2017, demolition began. But before that happened, photos and video were taken as a final reminder.

What will be done with the land? Since it seems to be very well cleaned up, it might make a good place for a small park. Maybe a campground, maybe an apartment complex.

Take a look at the gallery below with photos of the park when it was abandoned, with all the mobile homes sitting deserted. So many belongings were left behind...the residents no doubt didn't have time to gather everything...and they were told to leave during winter.

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