Monday, June 4, 2012

Flint Photos: The Copa with Roof Trees



14 comments:

  1. This is an iPhone photo so it doesn't really convey just how derelict this building is now It's really falling apart. Not sure the great facade could even be saved now.

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  2. This is one of my favorite Flint buildings. Based on what could be highly embellished memories from the 1970s, I remember looking down on this place from the windows of the Mott Foundation Building and seeing a roof top deck with outdoor furniture, pots of huge ferns, and French doors leading into what I imagined could have been a roof top level story, (that you can still make out in the photo, set back from the front of the building). I thought it could have been an urban penthouse suite, nestled at the foot of the soaring presence of the art deco skyscraper across the street, making it what might have been the closest thing to New York City living Flint had to offer.

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  3. Who, may I ask, is the owner responsible for the upkeep of this pile of junk with impressive roof landscaping?

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  4. According to Flint property tax records, its something called GSH 510 LLC.

    http://taxes.cityofflint.com/display.asp?parcel=41-18-113-013

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  5. I thought this building had already been redone (refaced), but it appears from Google maps that it hasn't. I wonder what plans there are for it.

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  6. I remember the Copa, that was the spot back in the 80's

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  7. This is a woor framed building and last I heard the framing is too far gone to save and/or bring up to code. So it sounds like demo is in the future, just a matter of when.

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  8. This building was torn down at least two years ago.

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  9. Um, this picture is only about two weeks old. The building is still there.

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  10. I think the confusion is based on both this building and the old Vogue building housing the Copa. One is gone and the other is still standing.

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  11. Clarendon DevonshireJuly 4, 2012 at 9:51 AM

    This is the original Copa, aka The Hot Rock Cafe, bka Metropolis

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  12. Last I knew, the building was owned indirectly by the Community Foundation of Greater Flint and Uptown as is 500 S. Saginaw Street (the Community Foundation Building). The plans were to tear down the building but with the downturn in the economy that was put on hold.

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  13. Sorry my bad... I best remember the Copa being at Saginaw & 2nd in the old Vogue building. That is now a grassy Everyone called always talked about the "Old Copa," though :) This was the Downtowners Club briefly before it was the Copa and then, as Clarendon mentioned, it was the Hot Rock Cafe and Metropolis. The "New Copa"/Vogue is now just a patch of grass outside of the Rowe building. It is a shame about the building at 510 but downtown has come so far in the last few years that I'm sure it's just a matter of time that something is done about that building.

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  14. Wow this takes me back. I grew up Flint and now live in San Francisco as well. I remember the Hard Rock & The Copa. I went home a few months ago for Grandmother's funeral. It's been about 15 years since I last visited Flint. It was kind of sad to see the decline... real depressing actually. But I'm always amazed at how well Flint Expats do for themselves...

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Thanks for commenting. I moderate comments, so it may take a while for your comment to appear. You might enjoy my book about Flint called "Teardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City," a Michigan Notable Book for 2014 and a finalist for the 33rd Annual Northern California Book Award for Creative NonFiction. Filmmaker Michael Moore described Teardown as "a brilliant chronicle of the Mad Maxization of a once-great American city." More information about Teardown is available at www.teardownbook.com.