Photo by L.M. Land/Written by Tanya Terry
On July 31, Judge David Guinn adjourned the hearing through which the City of Flint was asking Guinn to order the owners to repair the partially collapsed building at 641 S. Saginaw, or for the judge to appoint a receiver to preserve and dispose of it under a court order. The hearing was adjourned so that all parties had time to figure out complicated ownership questions.
The building was previously condemned by the City of Flint Building Safety Inspections Division. According to the City of Flint, issues with the building’s ownership have made the process of holding a responsible party accountable for ongoing safety concerns very complex.
Then, couple who the City of Flint identified as the property owners said the building was sold on a land contract to Love Holdings LLC in 2015.
The bricks recently collapsed in between two larger-than-life murals. One mural featured Mari Copney, known as Little Miss Flint. The other featured Mama Sol, another Flint native and a spoken word artist.
“Things fall apart, and typically when things fall apart, they fall apart to be rebuilt,” said Sol. “It was bittersweet, but at the same time there’s so much potential to do something greater when something does fall apart. You kind of learn from that. So, anytime something does fall apart, you learn to do it right the second time. I’m not really a problem-oriented person, I’m more of a solution-oriented person. So, what’s the solution so that never happens again to someone that may be real emotional, or emotionally attached to something like that.”
Sol told the Courier “life goes on.”
“I’ve had enough real pain inflicted in my life that something that I can control emotionally, I normally lean towards what feel good,” said Sol. “So, I’m focused on what the next positive thing is we can do in the community. Do we put another mural up somewhere else that’s more visible, that can inspire more children? It was kind of tucked off and hidden in the first place. So, a lot of people would ask me: ‘Where is that mural?’ I had to really break it down and explain to them. It was on the opposite way of a one way. So, if you came in the wrong way down a one way you would see it. But if you were riding up the one way, you’d have to turn around and see it. I’m a positive person. I always look for what the blessing is in anything that happens. I have pictures of it. I have video of it. I know that it existed. I’m going to continue to do the work I did to even have a mural, and I’ll continue to do that work in this community forever.”
Sol is a two-time cancer survivor.
“I’ve experienced physical pain beyond measure. I’m a single mother. I grew up in Flint, Michigan and everything was not always peaches and cream. I wasn’t a sheltered child. I really saw the city. So, to be able to still see the positive in the community and all the lessons in life…I just see the good. I don’t see the bad, though it exists.”
The hearing is expected to take place August 25 in Guinn’s courtroom, and the downtown alley where the building collapsed will be closed for several more weeks.
