It’s the middle of the week, we all could use a little boost to get us to the weekend, so welcome to Wednesday🔥🔥takes, where we offer … Let’s call it constructive criticism. Or big ideas we’d like to see in Flint. Or maybe just a rant about something. If you have an idea and would like to write one, pitch it to team@flintdaily.news.
I already gave away one of my wishlist items for downtown Flint a couple of weeks ago, but why stop there? I’m an ideas machine, plus that column did pretty well engagement-wise, so I think there’s clearly an audience of people out there with creative ideas about things they’d like to see in the city so I’m going to throw five more out there, and also open up this space to others. I’ll follow up on this in a couple of weeks, but I want to hear your downtown Flint ideas too. So either email me (team@flintdaily.news) or post them in the Facebook or Instagram comments on this story and I’ll compile and share what you all come up with.
To kick things off, here are mine, with my regular reminder that I have no money, influence, or connections to make any of these things happen, but I would love for any local rich people reading this to steal and do these things.
1. Turn the Flint Children’s Museum Into a Statewide Destination
The Flint Children’s Museum has long been rumored to be in search of a new location. In fact, in 2021, the Children’s Museum was reportedly close to moving to the old Farmers’ Market property on Chavez Drive, but those plans were scrapped when a dispensary moved next door to the property and the then-City Council didn’t love the optics of a dispo next to a children’s play area.
It appears the Children’s Museum is once again thinking of moving, and recently posted a survey on their Facebook page to gauge interest in a downtown location as well as feedback on programming.
Up front, I think it’s worth saying the Children’s Museum has done an incredible job with limited space in their current location. They offer a wide range of fun, educational activities, the Sproutside area outside of their building is beautiful and engaging, and they should be commended for the magic they’ve been able to make happen in an older building, a small parking lot, and some other limitations.
But I hope their board, and the people who can fund the project, think huge with their move. A fun model to use is the City Museum in St. Louis. It’s insane there … the building is an old, huge industrial space (something we have no shortage of here in Flint) that has multiple floors of indoor and outdoor exhibits, playscapes, and interactive things to do for kids (and adults) of all age ranges. There’s a school bus hanging through the building wall a few stories up … it’s wild and hard to describe just how thoroughly unhinged (in a good way) the designers of that space were.
Those unique qualities make it a destination, something that people all over the Midwest travel to and visit. That scale might be a bit too large for Flint, and teetering a school bus a few stories high on a building might not be the most efficient use of dollars, but my hope is that the team at the Children’s Museum is provided the funding to get super imaginative. A scaled up Children’s Museum is the sort of thing that could draw a lot of people from around the state downtown, and complement the other family-friendly spaces we have here.
2. Develop the Flat Lot
There are much smarter people locally on this topic than I am – for example, I’ve heard Joel Arnold of Communities FIRST, Inc., and Cade Surface from the Crim Fitness Foundation both speak passionately and brilliantly about the insanity of how much space in our downtown is devoted to often unused parking spaces. That overall is a topic worth exploring more in-depth (and one I’ll probably bug Joel and Cade for insights on at some point if they’re reading this).
But for now, just get rid of the Flat Lot. The absurdness of the heart of our downtown being a parking lot is hard to even put into words.
In true Flint fashion, people have made the most with what they have and done phenomenal events in that space over the years. Saying “near the Flat Lot” is also an easy and convenient way to give people directions to an event downtown. But that space has so much more potential – imagine it as a public square with some small storefronts, housing, park space, or other features incorporated. Anything that encourages more walking around downtown while reducing our reliance on cars to travel even a few blocks is a good thing.
3. A Major Concert at Atwood Stadium
In 2019, while celebrating its centennial, Kettering University made a big promise: T-Pain was going to headline a free concert in Atwood Stadium. The weather had other plans. Severe thunderstorms and a tornado warning forced the cancellation. And I’m not exaggerating … the students there didn’t forget. A small but vocal group of Kettering kids could often be heard at Flint City Bucks games following the cancellation chanting “we want T-Pain” in the crowd.
T-Pain may not have worked out, but the idea was a good one. But it could be bigger. A headliner could perform in the 10,000 seat stadium, but the area around the stadium is perfect for a multi-location music festival, with stages of varying sizes and genres positioned in a way that gets people wandering from Kettering all the way to downtown.
Imagine a festival that has performers a short walk from each other and incorporates grassy areas in Chevy Commons, the outdoor patio space at Tenacity Brewing, an all-ages stage at the Flint Local 432, and a partnership with Ken Van Waggoner of Good Beans Cafe to provide him with the resources and volunteers to scale up the beautiful GOODSTOCK event he does in Carriage Town every year. Jeff Skigh and his team put together two of the best outdoor shows I saw all summer in nearby Carriage Town, with legendary Flint rapper Jon Connor headlining one during PorchFest and Skigh and BFD Da Packman headlining another at a small outdoor stage just a few blocks from Atwood.
There are plenty of talented musicians of all genres who are already part of a resurgent live music scene in the city (Flint. Daily. recently wrote about a few of them – Nosey Parker, Canja de Boa, and DJ Eduardo Scizzahandz, just to name a few, are among the many fixtures downtown who have built audiences). There are also amazing music minds all over the city who have experience organizing large-scale events and festivals.
There is ample green space around Atwood for parking or additional stages, and the small parking lot between the stadium and the river even provides a great setup for a couple of smaller stages. Hell, combine it into the Flint Art Fair and have musicians and vendors lined up from Kettering all the way to the Cultural Center.
Putting together a festival that truly showcases and is representative of all of our talented local musicians and is headlined by a major national act tying it all together would be an incredible way to activate and use not only Atwood Stadium, but the entire downtown area.
4. Green the Parking Garages
I hate to devote two items to parking but, well, there’s a lot of it. We have way too many parking structures, especially in areas that would otherwise be scenic portions of the under construction state park. The biggest eyesore is the parking structure that is behind the newly opened Genesee County Administration Building, right on the banks of the Flint River.
Sadly, I doubt getting rid of this structure is feasible with county employees and visitors now needing nearby parking in the administration building. But it could be spruced up, starting with hiring some of Flint’s many talented muralists to design and paint artwork on the exterior.
The top level could be closed to parking and “greened.” Several cities have created sort of mini parks on top of parking structures. It requires structure reinforcements and drainage additions, among other complexities, but once completed, it would provide a nice overlook of the Flint River and new state park. Seating could be added, it could provide space for things like outdoor yoga or similar activities, and on the ground floor, there could even be dedicated space for an expanded bike share or rental area for people who want to make use of the growing and newly connected trails that will pass through the park.
5. A ‘Hands-On’ Bar or Restaurant
So many places downtown Flint have done a great job of bootstrapping and creating their own unique vibe. There are real options downtown for dining, socializing, seeing live music, playing trivia, and many other activities. There are so many spots I love spending time at with friends, so this section isn’t so much a commentary on what is missing rather than what could be a cool addition that complements all of those spaces.
The biggest thing that comes to mind is something that is just, well, … big. As mentioned above, Flint has a lot of big office and industrial buildings in or near downtown. Some are vacant and some are occupied but underutilized.
A place like Top Golf probably isn’t the best fit for downtown, but what about a similar concept? Flint is basketball city after all, so how about the “Top Golf of basketball?” There’s a concept for a business called “Jump Shot Live” floating around the internet, where people would shoot three-pointers or free throws (so it wouldn’t be drinking combined with a full-contact pickup game followed by old dudes who are terrible at basketball brawling over whether they took two steps or three on the missed layup they just shot if that’s where your mind immediately went!).
Grand Rapids has an indoor 9-hole mini golf course inside of a bar, which is a lot of fun and is something that could easily be replicated with Flint-style obstacles. A dueling piano bar in Royal Oak is always packed. There is a growing comedy scene here, so maybe even a place that specializes in standup multiple nights per week would be a unique addition. An arcade concept didn’t really work at the former Eberson inside the Capitol Theatre building, but that was a space that was way too small for it. Putting arcade games into a place like the old Flint City Hard Cider building, for example, with more space and even an adjacent lot to do some outdoor games, might be a way to bring that idea back to life in a more sensible location.
Anything large that gets people downtown to do something, and then out into the other establishments after they play mini golf or miss 200 free throws together or whatever would add value.
Those are my off the cuff ideas, what would you all love to see new, more of, or creative to further differentiate downtown Flint?
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