Opinion: Manning Street Historic District could be turned into parking lot

They will try to question the historic designation of this once country lane of mostly English cottage style houses, and pursue the notion that they need a parking lot directly adjacent to the Flint Institute of Music that has direct line of sight from the door of FIM due to the perceived crime in the city of Flint and the convenience of their patrons.

Let me assure you that a thorough study of the area was done over the course of four years by a study commission appointed by Flint City Council made up of a cross section of Flint residents which included architects, historians, genealogists and neighborhood activists. This report was reviewed and accepted by then Mayor James Rutherford and a city council much more respected than we have known in recent years.

Never in the 27 years since the historic ordinance was enacted has anyone ever questioned the accuracy of the original designation of this district until now when one organization strives to serve their own needs by dismantling a part of Flint history for another parking lot.

They will not point out that the current parking lot they share with Sloan Museum is closer to their public entrance than the Sloan Museum, Whiting Auditorium or the Buick Gallery and Research Center front doors are associated to their parking areas. Even a new parking lot behind Manning Court would be closer to their doors when compared with Sloan, Whiting and the Buick Gallery.

They will not acknowledge that the entire south side of Manning Court directly adjacent to FIM has been turned into faculty and staff parking lot rather than providing space for their patrons who regularly drop off their children for music lessons.

They will not discuss the fact that only on occasion is the current parking lot full, and it is rare that all the Cultural Center parking lots are full. It is rare in any business venture that the nearest parking is reserved for employees. Across the board this area is normally left for the patrons.

They refuse to discuss the option of building a new parking lot behind the historic row of houses as being too far away and out of the line of sight.

We know that the now vacant property is controlled by the same people who have transferred the houses on Manning Street to the Cultural Center.

They do not seem to want to discuss sharing the parking lot at the Flint Board of Education Administration Building that sits empty after 6 p.m. and on weekends. The Flint Board of Education had the original oversight of the Cultural Center. It seems they would surely understand the need to share an empty parking lot with a neighboring nonprofit organization.

In recent years the Flint Cultural Center Corporation and downtown leaders have grasped onto the "Cool City" initiative. Some of the strongest components of a "Cool City" is preservation and a walkable city. Professionals know that through preservation our cities are made unique, different from the suburbs. They have a sense of place. By returning to a city that is walkable, you help make a community safer by having more people out and about on the sidewalks rather than in their cars. We also know that a walkable city leads to a healthier lifestyle, something Flint residents surely need. We see the proposal by the Flint Cultural Center as being directly opposed to the nature of a "Cool City".

If there was no available property to build additional parking for FIM, then we preservationists might be more supportive of their attempt to dismantle this historic district for support of the Cultural Center. With vacant land sitting behind this historic street we find it difficult to support this request at this time.

The Cultural Center should embrace this historic district as part of the trust the Flint people have placed upon them for preserving our history.

We support the restoration of the Manning Court with period lights and connecting it to the Sloan Museum parking lot where the court continued at one time. We support a new parking lot behind Manning Court. We feel these houses have many potential uses; residential housing for Cultural Center employees, the Flint symphony director, visiting artists or others interested in the rich offerings downtown Flint and what the Cultural Center has to offer in a historic urban setting.

We urge the Flint Historic District Commission to consider the real options here and follow the letter of the law rather than a personal feeling others might instill into them.

(White is president of the Genesee County Historical Society.)

Manning Street Historic District History
By David White
Manning Street Historic District was one of the original historic districts formed under city of Flint ordinance 2707 in 1979. The Flint Bi-Centennial Commission, formed for the U.S. bi-centennial suggested that historic districts be formed in the city to protect our local history. A study commission was formed in 1975 and its findings resulted in the Historic District Ordinance creation after four years of study.

Fifteen districts were identified which included over 176 structures across the city. Another study committee formed in 1981, adding additional historic properties in 1982, which included Carriage Town.

Over the last 40 years the Flint Board of Education and the Nature Land Conservancy, working with funding from the C.S. Mott Foundation, slowly purchased property surrounding the Cultural Center. Most of the now vacant property behind Manning Court was demolished by the Nature Land Conservancy. Just recently the property on Manning Court owned by the Nature Conservancy was transferred to the Cultural Center Corporation.

Property previously purchased by the Flint Board of Education while they were in control of the Cultural Center has been turned over to the Cultural Center over the last several years. Only one house on Manning Court remains in private hands.

Manning Court was part of the property acquired by J. Dallas Dort when he built his home at 1025 E. Kearsley St. where the Flint Institute of Music is today. That home was destroyed by fire in the early 1970s.

Manning Court was named by Dort after the architect that designed his estate, Charles S. Manning. Mrs. J. Dallas Dort stated in 1977 that Manning and Dort were related.

The street was developed as a country lane in keeping with its original English cottage architecture. The court remained a gravel lane until the late 1990s when the road was paved without a Certificate of Appropriateness.

Dort platted the area in 1909 as J.D. Dort - Addition to the city of Flint. It was surveyed by Moses Middleton in 1907. As part of his work, Middleton set unique brass markers at all the required monument points. A review in 1979 showed that only three of the original 17 still existed. It is not known if they remain today but this should be reviewed before any work is performed.

Dort erected three homes in the English cottage style in 1906-1907 beginning at Crapo Street. They were all originally built as rentals as the Polk Directories show yearly changes in occupancy. Most were occupied by people associated with the Durant-Dort Carriage Company, later the Dort Motors Company, Buick and other auto parts suppliers.

Even Dort - son Ralph and his wife lived on the street for one year in 1916 while employed with the Dort Motor Co. By the late teens, early 1920s, a shift to home homeownership slowly occurred.

Above all, men of industry in Flint - history, including J. Dallas Dort, took a keen interest in the well being of the working man. At the time of Flint - rapid development, it was he who paid particular attention to housing, insurance programs for workers, creating a park system for the Flint community and providing property for the establishment of schools and churches near the new Buick factory. It is obvious that the construction of Manning Court met many needs.

It provided new comfortable housing for newcomers coming to work and live in Flint at a time when housing was at a premium. It guaranteed that his newly hired workers would have an affordable place to live when they accepted a job with him. It also provided him control of his surroundings as he guided the creation of the neighborhood.

It was clear that he was trying to set a standard for home construction by the quality of architects he engaged for his building. These were not like the quickly built homes that sprang up around the city to meet the housing shortage needs of the time.

Manning Street began in the following order.

• 1003 Manning Court was first occupied 1907 by Mrs. Florence Collins.

• 1009 Manning Court was the home of Harold Prince in 1907.

• 1063 Manning Court was first occupied in 1907 by William Little, manager of Buick Motor, then in 1913 James Martin, cashier of Genesee Bank. In 1916, Dort - son, Ralph Bates Dort and his wife lived here. This house was torn down for the Cultural Center parking lot behind Sloan Museum.

• 1015 Manning Court was built in 1908.

• 1019 Manning Court was built for Garrick Risedorph, Dort - secretary.

• 1027 Manning Court was built in 1918-1919 for George C. Willson ( Willson Park is named after his father Dr. James Willson). He in turn provided it to his daughter Frances Willson and her first husband Kenneth Horner on his return from WWI. The Willson family have been great benefactors to the Flint Community. Mrs. Frances Willson Thompson - legacy is the library at the University of Michigan-Flint, the residence hall and Chair of Industrial History at Kettering University and she was the main benefactor for the restoration of the Durant-Dort Office Building in Carriage Town. The Hauser family has lived at this address since 1954. This is the last privately owned house.

• 1103 Manning Court was also built in 1918 for Courtney Johnson who came to Flint to work at the Dort Motor Company. This house was frequently used by

the Dort Motor Co. in advertising for their automobiles. Courtney was a college friend to Dort - son Ralph.

Both 1027 and 1103 were designed by architect Robert Seyfert of Chicago, who came to Flint to design the Flint Golf Club on Lakeside Drive when it was moved from Atlas Mich. Dort was a prominent member of the Flint Golf Club. Mr. Seyfert also designed the house at 515 East Street in the East Street Historic District and another house on South Drive. These two houses do not reflect the English Cottage Style architecture.

(Street numbering changed as additional houses were built between 1912 and 1920.)