Commentary: We cannot remain silent

The Flint Cultural Center has a public relations problem that could affect it for years.

It has had few problems with expansion, removal of the planetarium pool, illegal signs and other things the cultural center wanted to do until now, but that is changing.

What the cultural center wants to do with Kearsley Street and future projects could well be affected because of the public outrage at the cultural center - attempts to replace the quaint English cottages in Manning Street Historic District with an unneeded parking lot for the Flint Institute of Music.

Yes, it - unneeded. Lets look at the facts.

Where are all the people coming from that need parking?

Paul Torre, the president of Flint Institute of Music, says there are 4,000 students who need a parking lot where the houses have stood for almost a 100 years.

How many children drive?

The usual procedure is for parents to drive up, take one of the parking spaces in front of the building, let the kids get out and then drive away. When the kids are finished, the parents pull up in front and pick up their kids.

They can also drop the children off in the driveway on the Crapo side of the building.

If they really needed more drop-off space the FIM could get about 20 to 30 spaces more if the drop-off zone was extended around the building, with the cars entering on Kearsley Street and exiting on Crapo Street.

There are 38 parking places on the east and north sides of the building, two reserved for handicapped people, four for visitors and 34 reserved for staff. Of course, the staff would have to park in the regular parking lot (less than a block away). How many employees of any institution or business get the prime parking spaces?

For people afraid of the dark, there is the well-lighted parking lot just across Crapo Street behind the school administration building that is vacant after 5 p.m.

Then, if FIM really wants to build a parking lot, there is the space a few steps behind the historic cottages " perfect if there was a need for more parking.

For adult drivers who are not handicapped, not staff and cannot grab the four visitor spaces beside the building, they can park in the regular parking lot and walk the few steps to the institute.

Torre claims it is unsafe to walk from the parking to the institute.

Let - look at the facts.

Between April 1, 2005 and April 1, 2006, according to the police department, eight calls came from the institute, two resulted in reports filed for larceny, one for a stolen vehicle and one for assault. The other four were listed as false alarms.

At the Sloan Museum, next door to the institute, there were 12 calls, two for reports filed for larceny and 10 false alarms.

Don't you wish it was so crime-free anywhere else you went in Flint?

Obviously, children don't need additional parking because they don't drive. Their parents have plenty of spaces to drop off the children. Adults who do drive to the institute have adequate parking beside the building or in the regular lot.

There are no safety issues.

Again, there is no need for a parking lot. But, even if there was, there are plenty of alternatives available without destroying the historic district.

It - a little bit like the war in Iraq. The reasons for doing it are bogus, yet the person in charge keeps repeating them.

The historic district is not just a few isolated houses. It is part of every Flint resident - heritage recognized by Flint residents 30 years ago as something that should be preserved because it is valuable to people in the modern times.

Moving the houses to another location would destroy their value because the place they are in is significant as well as the houses. The houses together on the plot of land " the Manning Street Historic District " make something of greater value than the individual houses.

It's  obscene to tear down the historic district for a parking lot.

The people at the cultural center are acting like an anti-cultural group who put "progress" (tear it down and build something new) ahead of culture. If there are some people at the cultural center who do have some culture, it - time to speak up.

If the culture center replaces this historic treasure with a parking lot, the effect on future projects could be significant because many of the people who value the historic district are the same people the culture center depends on for support.

This attempt to build a parking lot on a piece of Flint - heritage for bogus reasons is seriously eroding that support.

G.P.C.