place

Berston Field House

Buildings and structures in Flint, Michigan

Berston Field House opened in Flint, Michigan, in 1923 and has been the backdrop for the development of some of the city's top boxing and basketball talent as well as an important symbol of race in the city's history.Berston is one of several community centers throughout Flint that had traditionally offered recreation and health services to the community. While several have closed, Berston still houses one of the largest youth programs in a city that has had rapid population decline in the last thirty years.The original building included a library, swimming pool, gym and auditorium. In 1930, Berston became the first community center in the city to allow black residents to use its facilities and programs.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Berston Field House (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Berston Field House
East Dewey Street, Flint

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Berston Field HouseContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 43.04617 ° E -83.69338 °
placeShow on map

Address

East Dewey Street
48505 Flint
Michigan, United States
mapOpen on Google Maps

Share experience

Nearby Places

Industrial Mutual Association Auditorium
Industrial Mutual Association Auditorium

The Industrial Mutual Association Auditorium was an auditorium located at 815 East 2nd Avenue in Flint, Michigan. In 1901, the Flint Vehicle Factories Mutual Benefit Association (FVFMBA) was established by manufacturers in the Flint area. The Association provided benefits to workers in the event of sickness, injury or death, and was funded by contributions from their paychecks. In 1915, the Industrial Fellowship League (IFL) was founded by Charles Stewart Mott, with Walter P. Chrysler as chairman. The League offered workers recreational and educational activities. In 1922, the FVFMBA and the IFL merged to form the Industrial Mutual Association of Flint.In 1927, the IMA purchased the Randall Lumber and Coal Company property in downtown Flint. There, they constructed an athletic park and an auditorium. The auditorium was constructed in 1929 at a cost of $1.2 million, and financed through mandatory deductions from local autoworkers' pay. The Auditorium served as the venue for many of Flint's athletic, entertainment and social events for the next 50 years. The IMA eventually sold the Auditorium to the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.The building was a six-story Romanesque Revival structure that contained halls, offices, gymnasiums, and an auditorium that seated nearly 7000 people.The last event hosted by the Auditorium occurred in 1979. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.The Auditorium was incorporated into the AutoWorld theme park, which opened in 1984 and limped along until closing permanently in 1994. After two years of staying dormant, the IMA Auditorium was imploded on February 23, 1997. The implosion event was broadcast by WJRT-TV. In November that year, it was removed from the NHRP. The location where it once stood is now a part of the University of Michigan–Flint campus.