THE M .ICH...IGAN D A ..fY SUNDt -aYf M,.(i A/Lf - Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY MAGAZINE April 3, 1977 April 3, 1977 THE MICHIGAN DAILY SUNDAY'MAGAZ q-I that old Is beautiful0.. When sex is not a By MIKE NORTON Photos by A DY FR E3RG DOWNTOWN has always been the historicl r'ws"rehose of Ann Arbor: a w1lk through the all-vs and a-n~es srrornd- ing Main Stre -, reveal ar- chitect"rnl ,r"T""r from ever stage of the city's 150-year-long history. At Fifth and Hron, for in- stance, a stately XVictorian fire station stands across the street from a New Deal newspaper building and an ultramodern City Hall. Further along, at Fourth and Detroit, a neo-Aztec office bilding faces a converted livery stable and the back of a sternly Classical post office. Scattered thro'h thesarea are hundreds of old homes, from Greek Revivals to Dutch Co- lonials. Until very re"entlv, most of these buildings - esnecially the older ones-stood littl chance of escaning decay, defacement, or demolition. But many Arbor- ites have come to see them as a valuable part of dowtown's at- mosphere, and are taking steps to preserve and find new uses for them. "People used to think it was hopeless to try and renovate old buildings," says Wystan Stevens of the Ann Arbor Historical Foundation. "That's beginning to change now." According to Stevens respect for the past was never a very strong consideration in thedays of Ann Arbor's early growth. Old homes and other. buildings were casually torn down, for the most part, during the develop- ment of what is now the central business district. And the zon- inglaws ofstheearly twentieth century, which set up separate Mike Norton is a Daily Man- againg editor. . - 1 i * residential and commercial dis- tricts, did little to improve mat- ters: many buildings which for-' merly had residential uses were turned into warehouses" or torn down. "And there was a kind of gen- eration gap, too," Stevens adds. "As recently as 10 years ago. V i c t o r i a n architecture was scorned; there was a big push to tear down. these 'ugly old monstrosities,' as they called them. We lost our fine old County Courthouse (demolished in 1956) and the cornices on most of our downtown build- ings." IACK OF BUILDING and parking space downtown also contributed to the mass destruc- tion of old structures. When the big movement to build down- town narking lots came along in the 1950s, says Stevens, whole blocks were leveled. Around the same time, store- owners were beginning to dis- cover they could change the look of their buildings without tearing them down. A facade of stone, metal or tile could be put n in front of the old storefront, giving. it the smooth shiny "modern" look. which was so valued at the time. - "There was a real binge of facade-building in the early Six- ties," says Stevens, "beginning with the National Bank and Trust Building on Main Street." As late as the early Seventies, Main Street stores like Kline's were covering up their faces with smooth facades, often de- stroying permanently, many ar- chitectural features of their buildings. Itdwas the downtown bars which led the movement toward preserving the historical spirit of their establishments. The Pretzel Bell on Liberty, for in- stance, had long managed to cash in on the nostalgia of Uni- versity alumni. But in 1968, Ned Duke bought a 'storefront on West Washington and turned it into Mr. Flood's Party, a noisy cabaret filled with old woodwork and Tiffany glass- it was an in- stant success. Other enteroris-s oldiklv fol- lowed on the l eels of Mr. Flool's. In March of 1969, the Dr. Chase Building on North Main an antebellum edifice which had long been boarded up and used as a warehouse-was purchased, remodeled top to structures according to their fit- ness for preservation and their worth to the community. The survey, which divides downtown buildings into four categories of hitoric!'l or architectural value, is intended to act as a blueprint' f r City Hall decisions about nr-serwation and destruction. The Downtown Plan approved by City Council last year also makes provisions for conserva- tion of the historic flavor of 'much of the downtown area. The Plan's function is much like that of the 1973 survey: to point dow.ntown .a man aa5 a .s aiiit bottom and made into a com- bined shopping/office operation called Miller-Main Shops. "The easy thing to do, of course, would have been to go outside the downtown area and build," says Carl Johnson, a partner in the firm which bought, and renovated the biulding. "But we decided to stay here, and we're glad we did. It inspired a real incentive in this area; it gave people confidence." SINCE THAT TIME, the trend toward preservation and re- cycling of old buildings has picked up speed and strength. In 1970, City Council passed the Ann Arbor Historic Preservation Ordinance, which established a Historic District Commission to study and make recommenda- tions on the retention and res- toration of the city's architec- turally and historically valuable buildings. In 1973, the Commission spon- sored a lengthy survey of the d o w n t o w n area, classifying out directions to city, officials who must decide how the de- velopment of downtown will pro- ceed. It sets aside certain areas which are to be left undisturbed, and recommends other, less sensitive' areas for light or heavy development. Last year, Ann Arbor Tomor- row (AAT) sponsored a Down- town Facade Study to guide property owners in the restora- tion of stroefronts which would harmonize with the architectural character of their buildings. Encouraging as these guide- lines and studies may be, there are still formidable problems to be overcome for those who wish to preserve or recycle old down- town buildings. PERPHAPS THE greatest ob- stacle is in finding enough money to finance a creative renovation; banks and other lending institutions have gener- ally been shy of committing funds to what could be a mar- ginal or disastrous venture. "You really have to prove you've got a profitable thing on your hands," says Bonnie De- Loof of DeLoof and Associates, a small local firm which has made a specialty of renovations. "It helps if you already have a couple of' projects that tell a story, that show renovation can. be economically feasible." A number of solutions to the financial problem have been put forward. One has even been im- plemented: the formation of a consortium of local banks to back downtown projects. Such an arrangement has been made to fund the renovation of the Old Earl Hotel on West Wash- ington, and is being made avail- able to businessfolk who decide to restore their fronts as recom- mended in the Downtown Fa- cade Study. Another likely solution, so far not put into use, would be the extension of a limited tax break to renovAtors by City Hall. Such tax relief is already being pro- posed to encourage developers of downtown housing, and the s a m e enticements might be used on firms who wish to use already-existing buildings rather than build new structures or move away from downtown. But many groups already try- ing to renovate are running afoul of hastily-passed legisaltion re- quiring barrier-free construction for handicapped persons. The peculiar structural features of most old buildings prohibit the ramps, elevators and other aids required by the law. Builders are, however, presently trying to find creative ways of incor- porating such aids into their projects, and it seems likely that legislation to relax some of t h e Handicapped Ordinane's stricter regulations will be forth- coming in the near future. YET MANY owners show little enthusiasm to renovate-or even preserve-their buildings. Some are landlords who can de- pend on rental profits no matter what shape their properties are in; some are businessmen who "simply prefer if o r m i c a and chrome to wood and plaster. "There isn't any way we can pressure these people into co- operating with us," says Stev- ens. "They figures It's my prop- erty and I'll do as I damn well please with it.' " Very little out- side of gentle persuasion can be brought to bear against such owners, he adds, and persuasion only occasionally works; One possible source of pres- sure could be exerted by city government through its zoning laws, and some steps are being taken in that direction by the City Planning Department. City planners are now revamping the municipal zoningrordinance to restrict new development from designated areas of the downtown district. ,But more forceful action has yet to be taken, largely because city of- ficials lack .direction. All in all, however, the situa- tion is likely to improve; a small but vocal core of preser- vationists has grown up in Ann Arbor, and City Hall tends to listen to the loudest voices. A number of historic landmarks may be demolished before the issue is finally decided - but many have already been saved and many. more will be spared through the efforts of outspoken citizens' groups. "It's happening everywhere you go," says DeLoof. "When you look around at what's going on all over the country, you see people going back to the central cities and rebuilding; it's the way things are going." 111,* te By LAURIE YOUNG SEXUAL REVOLUTION: a phrase which has invaded our household vernacular as has Mary Hartman and J.immy Carter but remains as cumbersome to comprehend as Watergate and Vietnam. Ever since the "burn the bra" era of the sixties, we have been reminded by count- les media hypes and autobiographical accounts that there has been an upheaval in our accepted sexual norms. All around us we see young men and women exploring each other, sharing in- timacies, we are told, which many of their parents didn't experience until after many years of marriage if at all. Women, in general, are learning to appreciate themselves more and are turning to such activities as dance, karate, and running to get themselves more attune with their bodies. Sex clinics, Planned Parenthood agencies, self-help collectives where women can receive birth control education and contracep- tives, counseling and abortion agencies have sprung up everywhere. And what was formerly most sacred cherry of all, virginity, has found the new meaning for many in today's world. But the arrival of the sexual revolution still puzzles us. We have a vague notion that it is an outgrowth of the sixties but still regard it in awe as it has not yet received an adequate ap- praisal. Then, others maintain there simply has been no drastic change in our sexual outlooks. Amidst this uncertaintty, however, are two specific reports on human sexuality which off:. -ered us some solid ground for understanding what came about in that most important decade. These revolutionary studies, completed by Al - fred Kinsey in 1965, followed by William Mas- ters and Virginia Johnson in 1970, were the first major scientific works regarding human sexual physiology and response. One of their breakthrough findings was that all women's orgasms are caused by stimulation of the clitoris, whether direct or indirect. Hence, they dispelled the then-popular myth that fe- male orgasms were caused by friction against the walls of the vagina due to the thrusting motion occuring during intercourse. Also, these researchers found that a majority of the women in their samples were unable to orgasm during intercourse at all. 7[ODAY, AMERICANS are once again respond- ing with fervor to a new nationwide study of female sexuality ,which has its roots in these pioneer reports but is actually quite different in nature and method of data collection. New Yorker Shere Hite has compiled a basically sub- jective, non-statistical study and has released her findings in her new book, The Hite Report. Hite, who used an unique open-ended question- naire, relies almost exclusively on quotes to enable both women and men to learn about fe-. male sexuality from first hand accounts. Hite provides the forum for women to get acquainted with each other; her book is not a place to immortalize the sexual revolution or measure the amount of actual personal change it has brought about. Rather, it is an attempt to extend "it, to allow people to ask themselves those nagging questions which they have re- garded with caution for so long. Hite, 34, who received responses from 3,019 women ranging from 14 to 78, concentrates her questions primarily on masturbation, orgasm and intercourse. She asks detailed questions about how women feel while experiencing these acts-physically, emotionally and psychological- ly. Some sample questions are: "Is having sex important to you? What part does it play in your life and what does it mean to you?" "Do you enjoy masturbation? How many orgasms do you usually have? How do you masturbate?" "Do you like vaginal penetration/intercourse? Laurie Young is a regular Daily staff writer. t scie, person, then we are n ing whether or not wv are powerless. "It is not a question an orgasm, and then or vice versa. Fixing also keeps physical r mechanical pattern. always be directed a genital stimulation. I ways to relate physics Male sexuality too mi elude many more op most hysterical emoti course and o r g a s n What is really needed or that is, an un-de and an expansion o relations to another Hite's theories on he extend easily to the par with lesbianism. In the that mode of sexual e offer a woman an oppo taneous, caring experie play-intercourse routin Says Laura Sky Brow of women which put o "Leaping Lesbians," validates lesbianism b4 order to be sexual won need a man. But its p heterosexual women. "In terms of lesbians we've known all along v And the important thi go into our own sexua that-but to build our ture and political theor YET, WHILE HITE of litical interpretatio not tell us anything a from Kinsey and Mastc Biology Prof. John A' Hite Report "required "Without those studies port." Hite's study, which per cent return on her disappointing because scientific technique. V port to have created she leads us to believ substantiated. For on bias to her findings be questionnaires througl such as the National (NOW), Ms. Magazine, women's groups and Women who participa are likely to be more v late than the average cent return is not an just as 3,000 response limiting. Jan BenDor, a coun feminist counseling' s that the language Hite was often too confus report over, I would in language. Some questc if I asked) 'Do you wal lunch?'." HITE COULD BE for tific technique if that she uses her finc political stance. It se quotes and juggle her says, "One has to ass honest when he or :she But Hite has some her book to say and l draws may seem. clear See HITE R PHOTO BY SCHNEIDER.. Physically? Psychologically? Does it lead to or- gasm usually, sometimes, rarely or never? Did you learn to have orgasms during intercourse, or did you always have them?" Hite maintains that the present definition of male and female sexuality is inadequate. She bases her theory on these statistics: of the wo- men in her population who masturbate, 96 per cent of them orgasm, while only 44 per cent orgasm by means of clitoral stimulation with a partner. Likewise, Hite says, only 30 per cent of her population who orgasmed and who has had intercourse, orgasms during intercourse without extra stimulation. The report concludes that women know how to orgasm but simply aren't being satisfied. She blames norms which appear to be male-oriented and dominated, best exemplified by the typical sexual routine of foreplay-intercourse-orgasm (male, that is)--roll over and go to sleep. She says it not only deprives the women of the chance to get-extra stimulation they might need during intercourse but the routine,-intimidates them to such a degree as to prevent most from asking for it, XTHILE HITE'S findings and conclusions are, for the most part, reaffirmations of those found in earlier reports, she uses them to sup- port her feminist political theory: "The right to orgasm has become a politi- cal question for women. Although there is nothing wrong with not having orgasms, and nothing wrong with emphaizing with and sharing another person's pleasure, there is something wrong when this becomes a pattern where the man is always having an orgasm and the woman isn't.-If we make it easy and pleapurable for men to have an orgasm, and don't have one ourselves, aren't we just 'servicing' men? If we know how to have orgasms, but are unable to make this a part of a sexual relationship with another - of The two strategies for preserving downtown's historic character are illustrated above. Miller-Main Shops (iet) are me prouuct uo creative renovation of an old and disused building. The old' city firehouse (right) is an example of a structure whose original archi- tecture has been left largely unchanged.