James Rouse's Enterprise Development Company created Waterstreet Pavilion as a festival marketplace. The fanciful metal-and-glass building marked by a riverfront rotunda filled with shops and restaurants was intended to revitalize downtown Flint, and make the city attractive to tourists. In 1991 the University of Michigan–Flint took possession of Waterstreet Pavilion for use as administrative and student services offices, and a bookstore.