1:01:02
I like the color and the excitement of it.
It's very good for tourism in our area.
1:01:07
A major stop for the bus tours
that come to our area.
1:01:10
They pull up, park the bus,
and unload 40 senior citizens or so.
1:01:16
Water Street brings a fun atmosphere
that comes with a festival marketplace...
1:01:20
much like other festival marketplaces
around the country.
1:01:23
But the crowning jewel in Flint's plan
to attract tourists was Auto World...
1:01:27
hailed by city officials
as the world's largest indoor theme park.
1:01:31
Today is the first day...
1:01:34
of the rebirth...
1:01:36
of the great city of Flint.
1:01:39
The governor had reason to be excited.
1:01:41
Donny and Marie had come
to celebrate the opening of Auto World...
1:01:44
constructed at a cost
of over $100 million...
1:01:48
and dedicated to the belief
that the automobile made America great.
1:01:54
I paid my $8.95 and saw something
I hadn't seen in a long time...
1:01:57
downtown Flint, rebuilt exactly to scale...
1:02:00
under the glass-enclosed dome
of Auto World...
1:02:02
to look like it used to
before the factory closings.
1:02:07
They predicted
a million tourists would come...
1:02:09
to ride the world's only
indoor Ferris wheel...
1:02:12
to gaze at the world's largest car engine...
1:02:15
and to meet the official sponsors
of the American dream.
1:02:19
My favorite was the exhibit sponsored
by General Motors.
1:02:22
A puppet auto worker...
1:02:23
singing a love song to the robot
replacing him on the assembly line.
1:02:27
The song was called Me and My Buddy.
1:02:35
Auto World will make
a major contribution...
1:02:38
to our important
tourism and travel industry.
1:02:42
It's not only a contribution to that,
but as the mayor said:
1:02:45
''To jobs for our people,
our children, our neighbors.''
1:02:50
The million tourists never came to Flint.
1:02:53
The Hyatt went bankrupt
and was put up for sale.
1:02:57
Water Street Pavilion saw
most of its stores go out of business.