page_title: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Building
section_title: Later history
hierarchical_section_title: Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Building / Later history
caption_attribution_description: English: Genesee Towers and Mott Foundation Building in Flint, Michigan.
context_page_description: The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Building is a 16-story office high-rise building in downtown Flint, Michigan. It is the tallest building in the city. Designed by Wirt C. Rowland in 1928 and opened in 1930, it was built as the Union Industrial Bank Building to serve as the headquarters for Union Industrial Bank. Rowland was considered innovative for his use of two materials in the building's construction: Nirosta for decorative purposes in the public spaces and aluminum for its storefronts and window frames.
  In 1944, Charles Stewart Mott bought the building, which has since served as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation's headquarters and been renamed the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Building. More recently, the building has appeared in the films Semi-Pro and All's Faire in Love. It is considered one of the most iconic structures in downtown Flint.
context_section_description: In 1944, Charles Stewart Mott bought the Union Industrial Bank Building for $25,000. It has served as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation's headquarters since then. On January 1, 1945, the building was renamed the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Building. Exterior maintenance of the building has been provided by Detroit-based Grunwell–Cashero Company since the 1960s, and it has been done on an annual basis since 1990.
  The Mott Foundation Building would be the last office high-rise building constructed in downtown Flint until 1968, when Genesee Towers was completed. The two buildings, which were located immediately next to each other, were both close to 250 feet (76 m) in height. When Genesee Towers was slated for demolition in 2013, its proximity to both the Mott Foundation Building and the Flint Journal Building led to the decision to use implosion as the method for bringing it down. After the 2013 implosion of Genesee Towers, which was the tallest building in both the city and Genesee County, the Mott Foundation Building inherited the title of the tallest building in Flint.
  In addition to serving as the headquarters of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the building is home to numerous tenants, including those in the legal and financial sectors as well as those that provide other professional services. Other tenants include the Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce and a Christian Science Reading Room. The Flint and Genesee Chamber of Commerce occupies Bank of America's former downtown Flint location, which it closed on May 31, 2013. The Mott Foundation Building was also home to the Crim Fitness Foundation until it moved to a new location on Saginaw Street in 2007.
  In 2007, a fire on the 14th floor of the Mott Foundation Building caused by a malfunctioning power strip led to the evacuation of the entire building. There were no injuries.
  The Mott Foundation Building is home to artwork installed by the Flint Public Art Project. The organization collaborated with Windsor, Ontario-based artist Sohail Azad on a New Year's Eve 2012 light show that included a three-dimensional virtual ball drop.
  The building has also been used for press conferences by Flint mayors and Michigan governors, including one by governor Rick Snyder during the Flint water crisis. In April 2009, approximately 30 public-sector and private-sector leaders met at the building for a closed-door session to discuss how to best address the crisis in the automobile industry and its impacts on the area.
caption: The Mott Foundation Building (right) next to Genesee Towers, circa 2007
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