UM-Flint Urban Alternative House to be in Central Park

The Urban Alternatives House, 519 Garland, was destroyed in October in a series of arsons in Carriage Town. UM-Flint Professor Richard Hill-Rowley spoke to the Central Park Neighborhood Association Jan. 13 about the continuation of the project at 924 Eddy St.

The Urban Alternatives House was a collaboration between University Outreach and the Department of Earth and Resource Sciences to renovate a home using sustainable energy and make it an opportunity for multiple use — academic as well as community.

"It was intended as a laboratory for our students and a symbol of outreach in the community," Hill-Rowley said.

The Garland Street property was owned by the Land Bank and its plans included second floor residential components and first floor classroom space. The project included the adjacent empty lot, which was intended for use as a geothermal heating unit and garden, with produce to be used by neighboring Hoffman's Deco Deli.

Hill-Rowley said as the university retooled and scouted for new locations after the fire, Carriage Town was the initial focus, but a number of concerns arose, including safety and the rules of the Historic District Commission. Central Park was chosen for its proximity to campus.

Like the Garland Street property, the structure will allow for both residential and academic use and an open adjacent lot for geothermal wells. Hill-Rowley said the provost was anxious for visibility, and the Eddy Street house, which can be accessed from Crapo, offers that.

The "context" of the Eddy Street house is a great asset, Hill-Rowley said. "The house has a link to the Cultural Center, to MCC and linkage back to campus."

The gardening component will be on a smaller scale than that of the Garland Street  house, Hill-Rowley said. The property is smaller and will likely not support commercially oriented agriculture, but students will be working on the possibilities of urban gardening and natural foods. There may be distribution to food pantries, Hill-Rowley said, but as of yet no formal relationships have been established.

The information gathered in the "laboratory" of the Urban Alternatives House will be shared with Flint residents, Hill-Rowley said.

"In a broad academic sense, we're studying how to reduce the energy footprint. Making homes efficient is a key element in that. This house is to demonstrate to the community what can be done and how it can be done," he said.

The first step, Hill-Rowley said, is to organize and clean out the interior, then to hire architectural help for the design component. (For instance, how to separate the residential units, how entryways will function, etc.). He said he hopes the house will be ready for work to begin and applications will be out for further funding by April.

Hill-Rowley said he hopes to have students in the house by spring 2012.

Central Park Neighborhood Association Vice President Edwin Custer asked whether the project would maintain  the architectural integrity of the structure, and specifically cited the pillars, porches and balcony.

"It would seem from a design and cost perspective, renovating would make the most sense," Hill-Rowley said, who added that he lives in a historic district and supports the idea of maintaining historic structures. He said the only foreseen external change would be solar panels, which lie flat to the roof and would not compromise the house's facade.

UM-Flint student Nic Custer asked about UM-Flint's security measures. The Eddy Street house is currently boarded-up and appears abandoned — a target, Custer said, for arsonists.

Hill-Rowley said UM-Flint University Relations is currently working on the announcement that the Urban Alternatives project is continuing. Once the official announcement has been made there will be signs on the property.

In response to a suggestion that UM-Flint security patrol the house, Hill-Rowley said UM-Flint refused responsibility for Garland Street and he anticipated a similar situation.

UM-Ann Arbor Professor Eric Dueweke said he and his graduate students from the urban planning program hoped to do some surveying and inventory of housing conditions over the semester.

"We want to look at how the Urban Alternatives House can be an asset to this neighborhood, and vice versa," Dueweke said.

He and his students want to help identify the neighborhood's "vision." Dueweke praised the neighborhood for its "committed and knowledgeable residents" and said its location between the Cultural Center and downtown is "ideal."

President Jerry Rule said the neighborhood has long been ignored as Carriage Town and the Grand Traverse neighborhood were favored for investment.

"Since the dorms opened, that's changed," he said. The increasingly high concentration of students in the neighborhood has shifted UM-Flint's focus, and the neighborhood is ready to collaborate.

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