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March 20, 2007
Contact: Marilyn S. LeFeber, Vice President-Communications,
810.238.5651,
info@mott.org
Restoration of Atwood Stadium seating receives C.S. Mott Foundation support
FLINT-- Restoration of Atwood Stadium’s seating will be completed with the help of a $250,000 grant by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to the Community Foundation of Greater Flint (CFGF) for the Atwood Stadium Seating Fund.
Specifically, the Mott grant will support refurbishment of the west end zone seating and the deteriorated concrete sections in the former box seat areas of the stadium, bringing its 11,000 seats up to code.
The work is part of a $1.3-million restoration project led by the Atwood Stadium Authority, a group of area residents who came together in 1999 to help preserve the 78-year-old landmark. Additional funding for the project has come from the Ruth Mott Foundation, the city of Flint, private citizens and professional athletes with ties to the community.
Since restoration began in the late-1990s, the stadium’s facade and entry gates have been reconditioned, and new lighting and electronic scoreboards have been installed. Dressing rooms and the press box also have been refurbished
Still to be completed are renovation of restrooms and concession stands; repairs to interior brick, stone and concrete; and installation of new turf on the playing field. The goal is to have most work completed by late 2008.
“Atwood Stadium is more than a link to Flint’s past,” said Duncan M. Beagle, a Michigan circuit judge and the authority’s chairperson. “It’s also an anchor for our future, connecting local neighborhoods and institutions, as well as residents throughout the community. Its restoration, made possible through support such as Mott’s, is key to the city’s renaissance.”
The stadium opened in 1929 and was named after William A. Atwood, a businessman who served as mayor of Flint from 1882 to 1883. His son, Edwin W. Atwood, himself a mayor for the city from 1920 to 1922, donated a portion of the land on which the facility sits.
Since then, the stadium has hosted concerts, events with President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Sen. John F. Kennedy, minor league baseball, and high school football teams and marching bands. It continues to be a venue for high school football.
The C.S Mott Foundation, established in 1926 in
Flint, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the
United States and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways Out of Poverty. Besides
Flint, offices are located in suburban
Detroit,
Johannesburg (
South Africa) and
London. The Foundation, with year-end total assets of approximately $2.6 billion, made 545 grants totaling $107.3 million in 2006.
The Mott Foundation, established in 1926 by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the U.S. and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways Out of Poverty. Besides Flint, offices are located in metropolitan Detroit, Johannesburg (South Africa) and London. The Foundation, with 2012 year-end assets of $2.28 billion, made 439 grants totaling $91 million. For more information, visit www.mott.org.
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