Downtown Flint construction,projects & Photo post

[Allan]

The Flint chapter of the AIA has a pamphlet about the significant buildings in Flint. I know the Citizens Bank Building is in there. My mom picked one up for me sometime while I was down at school. I'm not sure where she got it...I will have to ask.

[dnast]

Let me know when you find out. I remember they published something back in 2000 (I think) covering architecture around the city, but I wasn't so much into that stuff back then and never picked up a copy.

I keep forgetting to mention this, but the church on Saginaw and Hamilton has a historical marker on it. I never noticed it before, so I assume it recently placed theree.

And another this I keep forgetting is to ask if anyone has seen the blue thing (I don't know what to call it, lol) separating the north and south sections of the Land Bank Center? I'm not sure if I like it or not, but it does bring a little style downtown. That's the last thing you'd expect from a building owned by the government.

But then, how many government-owned buildings have loft apartments?

[VeeFan]

I'll let you know what I think of this blue thing when I see it tomorrow on from U of M.

[dnast]

I drove by there earlier today and they've put materials on the first floor of the brick side, and they were close to finishing filling in the gap near the roof, as well. It's prefab but still looks pretty good. In my opinion, this is the best facade improvement so far downtown. That little building is going to be a great addition. It's almost hard to imagine that being the same building that was the ugly Hughes & Hatcher.

A few other things:

- Workers are still removing materials from First St. Lofts. The building looked pretty good as it was, so I'm wondering how much better it can get. I can't wait to see what that'll look like.

- The old Economy building is finally getting more noticable exterior work done. An overhang above the coming Brown Sugar Cafe storefront was being added on today. I wonder what their new target date is.

- I noticed a couple more historical markers; One at the Masonic Temple and I can't remember where I saw the other...

- Has anyone seen the Flint Institute of Art lately? I'm not sure how well the design will age. There are various sections all over the addition, each with different brightly colored, glossy brick walls. There's still a lot of work to be done, and I haven't been by the place on a sunny day in months, so hopefully it'll look better than what I got from my first impressions. Still, it already looks way better than it used to.

- The Mad Hatter is closed. Hopefully Jewerly World will be moving soon so work can start on the Rowe building. Even though project was announced maybe 6 or so months ago, it seems like we've been waiting forever.

Edit: I ended up taking a picture of the building on this glummy day. Lately, it's never sunny when I have time to go take photos.

Edited May 16, 2005 by dnast

[Pachuco]

Just so you now the demo for a skatepark in downtown Flint is being held today, So hopefully ABC12 will have a report.

[VeeFan]

When did you go downtown today? By the time I left U of M this afternoon at around 4:30, scaffolding had gone up on the first floor of the First Street Lofts. And I just noticed the little sign that finally calls it First Street Lofts.

And maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that perhaps the blue thing is going to be used for signage.

[Allan]

The brickwork is pretty plain, but I can't complain...it looks so much better than it did before! Maybe we need to have a forum meet so that we can tear the facade off that stupid house building. Whose idea was that in the first place? I wonder what is behind all that plywood and faux detail? It certainly can't look any worse than the fake house, even if it is plain & boring.

[dnast]

Just so you now the demo for a skatepark in downtown Flint is being held today, So hopefully ABC12 will have a report.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, I think today there was just a meeting to plan for the demo.

When did you go downtown today? By the time I left U of M this afternoon at around 4:30, scaffolding had gone up on the first floor of the First Street Lofts.  And I just noticed the little sign that finally calls it First Street Lofts.

And maybe it's just me, but I get the feeling that perhaps the blue thing is going to be used for signage.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I took the picture a little after 5:00pm, but you can't see the platforms in that picture. They've been there for a couple of weeks now. You can see them in a picture I posted in this thread a few pages back. And the sign, I just think it's been there so long that you stopped noticing it. It's been up there since last year

I was thinking the same thing about the signage. It's the perfect place for it.

The brickwork is pretty plain, but I can't complain...it looks so much better than it did before!  Maybe we need to have a forum meet so that we can tear the facade off that stupid house building.    Whose idea was that in the first place?  I wonder what is behind all that plywood and faux detail?  It certainly can't look any worse than the fake house, even if it is plain & boring.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That'd be funny if that building was another fake facade

Here's an old pic for anybody who doesn't remember what that part of the block looked like last summer:

[VeeFan]

Maybe I had just looked too fast then and saw the scaffolding for the Land Bank, because I could have sworn there was scaffolding going up the front of the First Street Lofts, not just on the sides.

[wolverine]

Nice! I really need to get down to Flint and take some pics for myself.

[dnast]

Maybe I had just looked too fast then and saw the scaffolding for the Land Bank, because I could have sworn there was scaffolding going up the front of the First Street Lofts, not just on the sides.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You could be right. It thought it seemed a lot more crowded than usual when I passed by there earlier in the day. I was just taking a quick look at the Land Bank Center while on my way somewhere, and didn't really pay attention to anything else, so I could've easily missed something like temporary scaffolding.

[Florida]

WOW!! Those are some lovely churches in Flint!

[dnast]

Thanks Taurean. It's not often we hear "wow" and "Flint" in the same breath unless it's something negative.

The windows were put in the Economy Building today. They're nice and big. I hope they still plan on doing something with the bricks. They should at least be painted.

Here are a couple of so-so pics of the FIA. I did a drive-by, so I had to cut my car out of the photos, heh. For some reason, it's hard to me to really capture the building. I'm only warming up to the colors, but I love the difference the glass makes.

[RustTown]

Hey, is the Brown Sugar Cafe going to serve soul food?

[Pachuco]

Why would a cafe serve soul food ? Big Als' down the street does, its'about 4 0r 5 blocks down.

The Brown Sugar Cafe will serve, coffee, shakes, smoothies and stuff of that sort, and it will also boost wireless internet.

Edited May 18, 2005 by Pachuco

[dnast]

Heh, I never thought about the "Brown Sugar" in the name. All I knew is that it was going to be a coffee shop. I didn't even know about the wireless Internet (or maybe I just forgot). That project has been moving so slowly that it's been months since I've read anything about it.

[dnast]

The marquee on the Capitol Theatre was lit when I drove by today. It wasn't dark outside yet, so it was hard to tell how it'll look at night. I didn't have my camera with me...

I never knew it, but the marquee alternates between showing "Capitol" and "Theatre", although if you didn't know the name of the place, you wouldn't be able to tell it's saying "theatre" until it's completely dark.

[SNWEB]

[dnast]

Sweet. When/where did you get that?

[SNWEB]

waterwinterwonderland.com

[VeeFan]

Thanks for the picture! I don't know if it's just the picture, but it's really hard to distinguish Theater when it changes.

It's great to get some signs of life going in the parts of downtown off of Saginaw Street. Now if only someone will come along with $5 or 6 million to finance the restoration of the interior.

Has anyone been inside the Capitol in the past two years at all to know if they have tried to start doing any renovations? I was in there three years ago, and the most they had really done was in the basement, and that was still pretty sad.

[dnast]

Last I heard, only the marquee and some of the brickwork had been restored. Also, it was said the renovation could cost as much as $20 million

[VeeFan]

$20? Wow! It had only been about $5 -$6 mil about three ago.

[dnast]

Yeah, I hope that price is just the worst-case scenario. That's a big jump.

There was an article today about First St. Lofts, and the usual recap of projects. I noticed that they keep bringing up the old Dale's store and Baker Drugs. I guess that project must be next on the list.

Also, I took a couple of pics of the Rosewood Riverside Townhomes. It looks like they want them to blend in with the apartment buildings next door.

[Allan]

$5 or $6 Million was probably the minimum estimate. In the past three years building material costs have risen substantially. Add in the increased costs of labor and it will bring the price up. Some of the details have been removed. Start replacing those and you'll reach $20 Million in no time...that type of work is extremely expensive.

The Capitol Theater is an atmospheric theatre, and the interior design incorporates Mediterranean architectural elements. The theater was the 74th theater in the Butterfield Theater chain. When it was completed in 1928, it was Flint