The Rocker’s Biggest Stories of 2021: March

Kalamazoo's legendary Gibson guitar factory getting new life as a Hard Rock was the big news. A $10M car wash and new restaurants also opened in March of 2021. 

As we begin a hopeful new year in 2022, we take a look back at the biggest stories of 2021 here in Kalamazoo, around Michigan, and across the rock and roll world. These were the big stories in March of 2021 that everyone was talking about.

Gibson Guitar Factory to Become 'Reverb by Hard Rock'

• A longtime Kalamazoo landmark will be preserved as Hard Rock Hotels announced ambitious plans to renovate the Gibson guitar factory on Parsons Street and transform the site into a new hotel property and entertainment venue.

New Businesses Open in West Michigan, While Others Face Challenges

• We're anticipating Battle Creek's Chick-fil-A will begin to serve up chicken with a pickle in early 2022, yet there's still no opening date set for San Francisco Taco in the former El Gallo Blanco building in Kalamazoo. Wahlburgers got the doors opened in a new Grand Rapids burger joint in 2021. Pastrami Joe's closed downtown BC, as restaurants statewide struggled with a lack of employees. Meanwhile, Comstock saw the opening of a $10 million mega car wash on Gull Road.

Look, Up in the Sky

• An incredible meteor streaked across Lake Michigan in March 2021, and Gobles residents swear they saw a UFO at the end of February.

Made in Michigan

• Duncan Aviation does incredible custom work on elite airplanes and this sky limousine built in Battle Creek will leave you with champagne wishes. A Kalamazoo man's restoration of a Vietnam War Huey helicopter has become a healing work of art for soldiers across the country. The Pontiac Transportation Museum is eyeing a Spring grand opening in (where else?) Pontica, Michigan.

Substances

• Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer was parodied on Saturday Night Live, shown drinking an Oberon. It was not the first time Bell's appeared on the long-running show. Comedian Tim Allen talked to Marc Maron on his WTF podcast about the drug bust in Kalamazoo that changed his life. Now legal, it was revealed that marijuana sales tax earned more than $700,000 for Kalamazoo and Battle Creek.

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