Flint Artifacts: Albert Pick Hotels Matchbook

Durant Hotel in the Fifties

Another great shot of Flint in the fifties by Mary Fisher, originally posted September 3, 2008. In addition to the Hotel Durant, the Flint Tavern Hotel, boasting "400 Rooms/Air Conditioned Restaurant," is visible on the left, behind a sign urging Flint to "Vote Republican/Vote IKE all the way!" and promoting "Fred M. Alger for Governor." Note the streetcar electric lines overhead.

Flint Artifacts: Durant Hotel Art Deco Matches

The Durant Hotel's Comeback

For all the bad news coming out of Flint for the last 30 years, it's easy to overlook some of the successes. With that in mind, I present...the Durant Hotel.

Kris Turner of The Flint Journal reports:

The former Durant Hotel is filling up faster than anticipated and its developer is eyeing other downtown buildings for future housing projects.

Since reopening last fall following a nearly $30 million renovation, the Durant’s 93 apartments are already at 75 percent occupancy.

That’s ahead of schedule and vastly exceeded the expectations of Richard Karp, the Lansing-based developer behind the building’s overhaul.

“We didn’t expect to be this far until spring 2011,” he said. “We’re quite pleased with the robust activity.”

Jack Wolbert and Alejandra Arceo flew in from California to get married at the newly restored Durant last summer. (Photo courtesy of Ryan Garza/The Flint Journal)

Given Flint's lack of interest in historic preservation, it's hard to believe the Durant survived, especially when you watch these videos illustrating just how far it had deteriorated.

Let's close with a few shots of the Durant from the days when Flint kids attended etiquette lessons before dining at the hotel.

Flint Photos: Northbank Center Viewed from the Durant Hotel

Durant Hotel Before and After

For a little contrast with this post, here's a shot of the Durant lobby pre-renovation. Thanks to Ann Richards for the photo.

Durant Hotel Renovation

Flint Photos: Downtown from the Durant Hotel

A view of downtown from the 6th floor of the Durant Hotel. More Durant rehab photos coming soon.

Flint Artifacts: Purple Cow Restaurant Glass

Flint Photos: View from the Durant

Two shots of downtown Flint taken from the roof of the Durant Hotel in August 2009 courtesy of Grumkin.

Flint Postcards: Durant Hotel

Durant at Dusk

The Durant Hotel renovation in full swing.

Etiquette Lessons

The Durant Hotel ballroom in its glory years.

A conversation about etiquette lessons offered by Mrs. Church and Mrs. Patterson in Flint brought back these memories for Pat McFarlane Young...

In my quest to be "one of the bunch" or, as it was known in the forties, one of the "400" crowd at Flint Central, my typical screwed up teenage mind felt my life would be transformed if only I could attend Mrs. Church's etiquette classes. The culmination of the classes was a dance party in the Durant Hotel ballroom, which all the peons had to hear about in school the next day.

At the time, this quest rated right up there with bleaching a streak in my hair like Nancy Jacks, having an arm full of turquoise and silver bracelets from The China Closet, or a collection of angora ankle bobby socks. I knew my parents would never understand this desire and consider it a total waste of money. But somehow I got the money and enrolled with Mrs. Church. I believe the classes were held at her house in the Civic Park area, meeting once a week for a little more than a month.

After telling my parents some bogus story I would run to the bus stop on Lewis and Kearsley Park Blvd. and catch the bus. It was dark when class ended. The other kids’ parents would pick them up but I had to run like hell to catch the buss. If I missed it, I would have had a hard time explaining to my folks.

Somehow I made it through the classes and even finagled a dress for the dance party. My parents did drive me to the Durant, but I can't remember how I managed to arrange it. I do remember the thrill I felt standing on the balcony overlooking the Durant lobby and going in to the party. The big thrill of the night was that Don Cronin asked me to dance. He later became the mayor and worked with my dad at Darby & Son Real Estate. He turned out to be a very nice, kind man and I always remembered that dance.

Looking back I realize that high school is the hardest time in a young person’s life because they are trying to decide who they really are. It took me many years to figure it out, and I now realize old age is as hard as high school. I'm still searching.

A recent shot of the ballroom before renovations began on the hotel. (Photo by Mellowedee via Flickr.)

Flint Artifacts: 1947 Purple Cow Menu from the Durant Hotel

Durant Hotel Renovation Confirmed

It's official.

The Durant Hotel will get a $30 million renovation to convert it into an apartment complex.

Hotels Past, Present and Future

Here's an ABC12 News segment on the Durant Hotel renovation. It's a bit out of date, but it has some good footage of the hotel in its heyday, along with artists renderings of the completed renovation.



Thanks to JMack at HoodHype for passing this along.

Durant Hotel in limbo

Durant Hotel photo courtesy of The Kohrman Report.

"Renovation" work begins on the Durant Hotel, but it doesn't mean the historic building will be saved.

A handful of dust

I promised myself I'd take a break from posts about the Durant Hotel, but when you run across a simultaneously beautiful and thoroughly depressing images like these they have to be celebrated...or acknowledged...or mourned...or whatever the correct response is for something that's aesthetically arresting but reminds you of how far your hometown has fallen.

The shot is from The Kohrman Report, a "ruins photoblog" with stunning images that capture the fate of America in the last thirty years.

Canadians Abroad

The lobby of the Durant Hotel

What happens when an earnest Canadian visits Flint?

"After taking some landscape photos from the roof [of the Durant Hotel] I headed down and walked across the street to get some lunch. While waiting for my order I asked the cashier which areas I should avoid to keep out of trouble. Her response was almost comical had she not been serious. Her reply to my answer was simply to stay out of Flint altogether. With my lunch in hand I thanked her for the advice and headed back to my car."

The Yellow Organdy Dress

More memories of old Flint by a longtime resident...

In the fifties, I was a receptionist at The Coiffure Shop, a popular upscale beauty salon in downtown Flint. We were a close bunch on the job, as well as friends outside of work. One of our endeavors was learning the cha cha cha, which was then the current dance rage. We took lessons from a cute Italian guy named Leonard, which may have been short for Leonardo. When we felt we were the equivalent of Fred and Ginger, we arranged to meet on a Saturday night at the Town Club in the lower level of the Durant Hotel. The Town Club catered to the young hip crowd as opposed to the stuffy, members only City Club located somewhere in the upper floors of the Durant. We often joked that if you didn’t know C.S. Mott you couldn’t belong to the City Club, but members — minus their wives — often drifted down to the Town Club. But that’s another story.

I was excited about the big night and went to Betty Richards, my favorite dress shop, to buy a cocktail dress. Betty was great fun and always interested in where you were going and what you were doing. I told her we were all going to the Town Club to show off our dancing skills and that I wanted to look sexy. I was looking at low cut, tight fitting dresses when she taught me an important fashion lesson, which I have never forgotten: “Sexy is not showing it all but covering it up.”

She held up a pale yellow organdy dress with long sleeves and a full skirt. “You’ll look beautiful in this dress,” she said.

She was right. When I walked down the steps leading to the Town Club, I owned the night.

Cha Cha Cha!