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Ongoing Thoughts Seven:
By William E. Steinman:
May 5, 2008:
The Jewels of Flint:
Flint, Michigan
gets badmouthed frequently by just about everyone. I do so myself on occasion
and much of the criticism is deserved. However, it is less than honest to
refuse to notice what is good about that City. Too many people do not even know
about this aspect of Flint, but
there is a thriving cultural center located in this city. Flint
also boasts two outstanding schools. One is the University
of Michigan Flint, which is part of
the Ann Arbor based U of M. The
other is Mott Community College, which is a two year school preparing students
for a number of professional careers and acting as a prep school for the larger
universities.
Mott Community
College has an outstanding two-year nursing
program. This is the very program attended by Mrs. Gaffer wherein she gained
the knowledge to acquire her nursing licenses in the State of Michigan.
To be sure the community college has many other technical programs wherein
people can learn other trades and skills.
The University of Michigan
Flint is a fully accredited center of higher
learning. Like its parent in Ann Arbor,
it offers a full program of subject material, but without the hustle and bustle
of the huge Ann Arbor campus. From
my viewpoint the school seems to be much more student focused. For kids who are
more into education rather than the big school rah-rah games, this is a better
place. The cultural center is not associated directly with either of the
Universities. It stands by itself as a center of culture in Flint.
Officially, the center is called Flint Cultural Center Corporation. It nestles
in a triangle of land just north of Mott
Community College and a bit East of
U of M flint.
One unfortunate thing about this situation is an expressway
(I 475) which separates U of M Flint from the other two Jewels. There is one
useful street, which does cross the expressway and does allow vehicle traffic
but does not at all encourage foot traffic. This is Kearsely
Street. If it were left to me, there would be a
footpath alongside Kearsely to create a walking corridor connecting all three
jewels. So far as I know, this footpath is the only thing missing. One of the
big problems with Flint and most other
northern cities is this lack of support for foot traffic in key areas. It is
almost impossible to create a sense of community in an area where foot traffic
is discouraged.
It would be ideal to have the Kearsley corridor run all the
way through to Saginaw Street,
which is the main street of downtown Flint.
This would link the whole mess into one super people friendly area. It would
link the downtown, which is struggling to recover, with the vibrant living
jewels of flint, which are thriving. This path is already partly in place.
Although Kearsley Street
ends at U of M, there is a walkway through the campus called Kearsley walkway
corridor. I don’t think it would take much to complete this corridor for
people.
For now however, foot traffic is discouraged while vehicle
traffic is not discouraged. The Robert T Longway
Boulevard, north of the center, more or less
connects the three areas. However, for those who might want to risk walking
along this stretch of road, I would recommend taking out a very large life
insurance policy. It is not likely that you would need to make many payments.
Even for vehicle traffic, if you are not sure of where you are, you may be
forced by circumstances to explore places you did not intend to go. I have
experienced that.
Okay, let us get to the Flint Cultural Center (FCC). I
learned a lot about this center by going to one of the web addresses,
http://www.longway.org. We may as well begin there. On this site are links to
all of the other features of FCC, so it makes sense to go there first. The
official name is The Robert T. Longway Planetarium. This is actually the
largest planetarium in Michigan
with state of the art technology. Rather than the normal stuffy professor down
the nose stance, this place caters to young people. Their programs and
presentations are designed accordingly. Mrs. Gaffer took our granddaughter
there recently and they both had a grand time.
Here is some of their information I copied from the site.
“Explore the wonders of outer space and experience scientific discovery
at Michigan's largest
planetarium. Longway's Sky Theater is equipped with the latest Digistar II
technology, producing amazing three-dimensional star fields and astounding
special effects. Dazzle your senses with all-new laser shows. Hands-on family
science activities and special exhibits are also presented throughout the year.
The Robert T. Longway Planetarium was dedicated on June 26, 1958.”
The Longway Planetarium is closely linked to the Sloan
Museum. The Sloan is a first class
museum with a remarkable array of exhibits and features. Again this place
caters to young people as well as older farts like me. Here is a bit of their
blurb I copied. “From fur trading and pioneer life, to lumbering,
carriage making, and the automobile boom of General Motors, the Alfred
P. Sloan Museum
brings history, culture, and technology to life for the entire family. Visitors
can also enjoy the Discovery Center,
featuring hands-on science fun for all ages and a variety of special lectures
and workshops for adults and children.” One of the features of this
place, which I intend to experience first hand, is their automobile exhibits. I
have never been there and in that, I have been cheating myself. I expect to
remedy that this summer.
What else do we have? We have The Whiting. This is a
2,100-seat theater within the FCC campus. Featured here are Broadway shows such
as Man of La Mancha. Also featured are local theater and dance groups along
with some big name entertainers. In addition, this theater plays host to the
Flint Symphony Orchestra. The Flint Symphony is a small but very impressive
orchestra of 77 professional musicians, which offers a yearlong series of
performances in the Whiting and various other places.
The Flint Symphony Orchestra is based within the Flint
Institute of Music, which is also home to the Flint School of Performing Arts.
This institute offers a full range of education programs for students of dance
and music. The institute boast more than 3,000 students, making it the largest
such school in the State of Michigan.
Speaking of art, the FCC is also home to the Flint Institute
of Arts. This was
established in 1928 as a museum and art school. The exhibits
and collections are impressive featuring a large collection of over 6,500 works
of art, from 16th century renaissance paintings to modern abstract sculpture.
Here is some of their own blurb about it. “The Flint Institute of Arts is
one of the largest museums in Michigan
and is home to one of the nation's largest museum art schools, offering classes
year round for students from 2 1/2 years to adult. At the Flint Institute of
Arts, you will discover everything from exhibitions, art classes, films and
videos, to lectures, concerts, tours and more.”
That is not all. Also featured by FCC is the Flint Youth
Theatre. Again, I have copied their blurb. I cannot say it any better.
“Nationally recognized for its provocative, intergenerational
programming, Flint Youth Theatre (FYT) presents award-winning professional
theatrical productions and offers year-round classes for area youth through
it's Drama School.
In it's home at The William S. and Claire M. White Center, which includes
Elgood Theater and Bower Theater, FYT productions not only entertain but also
provide audiences of all ages with uncompromising explorations of compelling
social issues. FYT is a recipient of a "Great Lakes Community Arts
Award" presented by The Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies
(2002) and a "Governors' Arts Award" presented by ArtServe Michigan
(2001).”
The Buick Gallery and Research
Center completes our tour of the
FCC. This one is all about Buick. It is a huge collection of vintage Buicks.
The experimental ones are features along with some restored classics. If you
are into cars, you should not miss it. Another feature within the FCC is
Applewood estate. This is Motts original home and part of the Mott farm
maintained for the public.
Okay, I cannot leave you without mentioning the Flint
Farmers Market. This is a small, but impressive market area very near to these
other jewels. This is a place where the local growers and merchants can rent
space to offer their fresh products to the public. Like all of these type
outlets, a visit here is a treat for the human spirit. One thing the footbridge
I suggested at the beginning would do is make this market a part of the system.
I can see other areas where ethic and specialty stores and merchants could make
this place a huge feature attraction of Michigan.
I wish they would open it up to that.
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