2. We have been informed that the owners of the original corporate offices of Durant Motors (which was purchased by General Motors and became the administrative offices of Fisher Body) will be open for public tours during the evenings of the ‘Rolling Cruise’.  We have been told that the offices of Billy Durant are fairly intact.  The building has been closed to the public for several years but is on the ‘National Historic’ building registry.  For those of us who have lived in the Flint area for some time, this will certainly bring back memories.  There will be no charge for the tour which is in keeping with our entire event.  If you are an automotive history buff, you certainly will want to take time to tour the building.  It is our understanding that the new owners have already lined up tenants and this will most likely be the last and only time that the public will have an opportunity to tour what Billy Durant built back in the late 20’s.  We want to thank the owners of the building, Insight Institute Neurosurgery Neuroscience, for their generosity of allowing the public to tour part of Flint’s great automotive heritage buildings.
    
3. Continuing on with tours of Flint’s historic buildings; the Durant Hotel which has been undergoing a complete and total restoration after setting empty for over thirty years will be open for public tours.  The restoration of the building will be completed by August 15th just in time for this year’s ‘Back to the Bricks’.  The building, which is named after Billy Durant, has stood the test of time and will once again stand as one of Flint’s historic icons.  The ‘Durant’ is located in downtown Flint just north of the Flint River and at the intersection of Saginaw St. and MLKing Blvd.  The Sloan Museum is coordinating a Durant Automobile exhibition for Saturday, August 21st to compliment the opening of the ‘Durant’ and with the completion of the project, the building will have been successfully converted to upscale loft apartments and private offices.  Be sure to stop in and see the ‘Durant’ free of charge.
    
4.  One of our committee members who chairs our ‘Back to the Bricks’ memorabilia sales, Carl McElrath,  has been hard at work hitting the local Flint car cruise scene selling posters, coffee mugs, travel kits, B2B limited edition pin sets and dash plaques sets and other assorted items.  Carl will have memorabilia sales tents at the two mega sites and one in downtown Flint plus at the US-23 Drive Inn Theater.  Be sure to stop by Carl’s sales stands to see what we have to offer.  It you can’t make it by, check our website www.backtothebricks.org, and click on the ‘e-store’ tab of the home page and make your purchase.  All sales proceeds go directly towards keeping the ‘Back to the Bricks’ event free to all.
   
   
5. I could keep going on but as in the past, I need to keep this update from becoming a book.  If you need to make your room reservations, I encourage doing it now.  Time is slipping away and August 17th, 2010 will be here quickly.  One final thing (and I know I am beating a dead horse), help us remind everyone that there will be a ‘zero tolerance’ policy enforced regarding ‘burn outs’  and public consumption of alcohol in public non-authorized areas along the ‘Rolling Cruise’ route.  Help us keep our event safe for all.  We don’t want what happened in Selmer, Tennessee to happen here (go to YouTube to see what I am talking about).  See you soon.

Cordially, Al Hatch, Chairman

Back to the Bricks Cruise and Car Show

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