Assets part I

Welcome Back,
So how do we go about saving a city? Well, I’ve talked about crime and that feeling of safety, I’ve talked about spiritual - pray people, pray hard and long – Now I’m going to talk about utilization of assets.

Let’s start with Saginaw a mere 40 years ago. It was 1970 and downtown was still bustling, however the bustle was slowing down and quickly. I remember going with my mom to stores downtown, not just Jacobson’s, but other great stores such as Seitner’s, Weichman’s, Morley Brothers, Montgomery ward, and so many others. There was things to do and places to go and safety? Not an issue. The Saginaw Center was then known as the Downtown Saginaw Mall and was a hub of activity in downtown. So what happened?

Suburbia, Urban Sprawl, suburban flight, whatever you want to call it, it means the same. Abandoning the inner city for wide open spaces. Probably the biggest downfall to downtown was the opening of Fashion Square Mall in 1972. The Saginaw township establishment offered 798,016 square feet of space, probably more than all of the open stores in downtown. In ancient civilizations, people created habitats along river banks or bodies of water, much like Saginaw lies on the Saginaw River, and stayed there until they used up the resources, then they picked up and moved on leaving the habitat behind. Things haven’t changed much have they?

So let’s talk about those assets and how to leverage them into the re-birth of downtown. Today I’ll focus on the brightest spot, the Saginaw River. Just look 20 miles upstream at Bay City. You’ll see what Saginaw could be and could even surpass. How can the River save Saginaw? Well for starters, a cleanup. The river banks in recent years have been getting some attention. I’m proud to say that I was part of the design team that cleaned up Ojibwa Island and the area across the river. More of that needs to take place. Continuing with the river walk on the West bank of the river will invite more people to walk the banks. Let’s get rid of industry along the river and promote business and residential opportunities. Rifkin scrap metals needs to move! The area needs to be reclaimed and turned into a business hub and park. And why do we have an auto service center and parking lots that have views of the river? This is prime land and it needs to be developed properly.

107 South Water Street. This was my first love of downtown Saginaw. It was in 1988 after I had returned from college in Florida, I was driving downtown and saw the Gargoyles for the first time. I had been studing architectural history at the time and so I was starting to notice such things. I drove around downtown and my eye popped wide open taking in the sights of 107 South Water, the then Second National Bank building, Eddy Place, the Temple Theatre. I couldn’t believe we had such treasure right here in little old Saginaw. I began to research 107 S. Water Street and found out that it had been a parking structure at one time and was never finished. It wasn’t a ramp type parking structure like we know today – they take up more room – it was to use two high speed elevators that would carry the vehicle to one of six floors. The more I investigated, the more I dreamed about what to do with this building. It became obvious that this building was destined for greatness. Until the City decided they were going to tear it down. I wrote a nasty letter to then Mayor Gary L. Loster explaining my position. Mayor Loster pushed the letter off to his economic development specialist Joe Turner who happened to be a shirt tail relative of mine. Joe put me in contact with Leo Kahn who owned the building and Leo said he had no choice, he couldn’t keep up the taxes and maintenance. He offered to sell me the building for $60 K, but I couldn’t afford that, I could barely afford my rent. Somehow better minds prevailed and the building was saved, and has now changed owners. The new owner, it was rumored, was going to turn the building into condo’s – which was my great idea back in ’88 – but I’ve not heard anything lately.

So there are a few ideas to start off this salvation of Saginaw, but much, much more needs to be done. Stay tuned as I continue my thoughts of how to save a city.