Students moving into the new Riverfront Residence Hall
/ Brett Dickie
What was once the Riverfront Character Inn downtown Flint, built in 1981, is now home to more than 200 local college students.
Students moved into the new Riverfront Residence Hall Wednesday.
Project Manager, Ridgway White says, "we want to make it a fun place to live and bring student life to Flint with this project."
Aside from rooms for the students, the 340,000 sq. foot facility is also equipped with a game room, movie room, study hall center, internet cafe and a fitness center. The 16 story building is complete so far, all the way up to the eighth floor.
"What we're doing is we're going to grow to 1,000 students in the downtown area in the next couple of years," White said.
Adrian Funchess of Ann Arbor will be a sophomore at the University of Michigan Flint this fall. He says he's proud to be a part of all the changes happening downtown.
"I can't wait to see Flint in the next five to ten years and see how everything changes," Funchess say. "Hopefully for the best."
White says, "Our goal is to attract companies to downtown by creating a great workforce by reinforcing the institution of higher learning."
The Upfront Reinvestment Corporation bought the 16 story Character Inn and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is helping to support the project financially.
White says there is still room left in the Riverfront Residence Hall for this fall and encourages all local college students in the area to find a home there.
The University of Michigan's First Street Residence Hall also opened their doors to students on Wednesday which opened for the first time to students in 2008.
