Month: November 2018

Categories
Music Music Features

Barbara Blue’s Latest Features Old School and New

CREDIT: Ebet Roberts

Even Barbara Blue sounds a little surprised at the talent she gathered together for her latest album, Fish in Dirty H20. While it’s true that the blues belter, a regular performer at Silky O’Sullivan’s on Beale Street, has worked with some serious contenders in the past (including three albums with Taj Mahal’s Phantom Blues Band in the 1990s), she couldn’t have predicted that her latest effort would feature one of the greatest drummers in the history of jazz, funk, and soul: Bernard “Pretty” Purdie.

Purdie’s work, of course, became legendary soon after he first made his mark drumming for Mickey and Sylvia in the New York scene of the early 1960s. It wasn’t long before he was contributing to albums by James Brown, David “Fathead” Newman, Herbie Mann, B.B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Robert Palmer’s Insect Trust, and many others. Pop fans might be most familiar with his solid grooves on hits like “O-o-h Child” or Aretha Franklin’s “Rock Steady” and “Day Dreaming,” but he also chalked up a number of albums as a bandleader in his own right, now often sampled in hip-hop productions.

Ebet Roberts

Bernard Purdie and Barbara Blue

Cut to 2017, when both Purdie and Blue were performing at the Porretta Soul Festival in Italy. “Porretta is known for these little doughnuts they make over there,” explains Blue. “They’re halfway between a cookie and a doughnut. I’d take ’em to everybody, just to give ’em out. So when I saw Celia, Bernard’s wife, I said ‘Here, I found these, they’re delicious.’ She looked at me with tears in her eyes. She’s Italian to the bone, from New York. She’s got tears in her eyes and says, ‘My nonni used to make these.’ And we’ve been like family ever since.”

She felt an immediate bond with Bernard as well, she adds, because “we have the same musical philosophy on a lot of things.” Recruiting him to cut her latest album was a simple matter. It helped that she had secured time at a studio on Pickwick Lake operated by multi-platinum producer Jim Gaines, best known for his hits with Huey Lewis and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Gaines’ approach to production suited Blue just fine. As he recently told Tape Op magazine, “I try to capture a little bit of live-ness to the music … . I do it today with a lot of bands that work with me. I look at it as if you’re going to see a live performance. That’s the sound I want to hear, except with us in control.”

And that’s precisely what you get with Fish in Dirty H20. To hear Blue tell it, working with Purdie made live-tracking easy. “We drive each other, because we drive for perfection. We had nine one-take songs on this 13-track record. With Bernard, you get it the first time. But I had other great people in the studio. I had [former Stax and Enterprise keyboardist] Lester Snell, I had Dave Smith on bass, and most of the time I had Will McFarlane on guitar. Bernard is cerebral. We’d discuss it, and then we’d hit it. And we had a ball at it.”

Overdubs of horns, background vocals, and other textures were added later. But one overdub in particular took the album in a direction unheard of on almost any blues record to date: a rap by one Al Kapone. “Al texted me and said, ‘C’mon I wanna be on your record’,” says Blue. “And I said, ‘Funny you should say that … ‘ So he sent me back a scratch track. I almost fell to the floor. So Jim’s sitting at the computer, we’re listening to it, and he says, ‘Barbara, I love it. But I’m gonna tell ya, my professional friends are gonna think I lost my fucking mind!’ The cool thing was, Jim had never seen anybody rap like this before. And Al knew exactly where he wanted to be.”

The final product is a testament to Blue’s hard-won life experience, and the gritty power of the blues to convey it. “I’ve been singing in bars since I was 13 years old. I’ve watched people come in who are trying to mend their marriage. I’ve watched people who are having affairs. I’ve watched people who are sending their kid overseas in a Navy uniform. And I can tell you: People don’t always go there because they’re happy.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Lamplighter Now Serving Lunch

The venerable bar in Midtown, The Lamplighter, launched its lunch service over the weekend during a festival

“That was nice,” says Laurel Cannito, who is a partner in the business with Chuck “Vicious” Wenzler.

She notes that day Lamplighter is not like night Lamplighter. For one thing, it’s kid-friendly and it’s non-smoking before 8 p.m.

The pair, who took over last spring, say it’s not as much about changing the Lamplighter as making it a little better. The kitchen and floors were redone, the whole place cleaned from top to bottom.

“It’s the same but cleaner,” jokes Cannito.

Cannito says her path was always to where she is now. She and Chuck are longtime friends, and her goal was to open a cafe or a food truck. In fact, she was saving for a food truck, when Ann Bradley, the owner, mentioned she was ready to retire.

Cannito and Wenzler consider the place community-supported.

As for the food, the favorites like the burger and the grilled cheese are still there. The menu isn’t typical bar food, and they are still tweaking it. Cannito hopes to shape something that is vegan by default but doesn’t have to be.

Right now it features the Hangover Helper, a Vegan sausage, egg, and cheese biscuit; sandwiches, tacos, bagels, chicken, and curries.

And, let’s not forget the cheap beer.

Wenzler hopes to eventually add a window to the south, front-facing wall; Cannito a garden out back. “Really?” asks Wenzler to the news of the garden. “You’ll have to water it.”

Curry with tofu

Categories
News News Blog

Wiseacre Plans to Build New, Bigger Brewery Close to South Main

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Wiseacre Brewing Co. wants to build a new brewery (bigger than its Broad Avenue facility) with a taproom and an attached kitchen on vacant lots near the South Main Arts District.

Abel Parcels LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wiseacre, now has several parcels of vacant land under contract close to the corner of B.B. King and Butler, according to the variance request. They expect to close on those pieces of property by January.

The company has asked for a variance from the Memphis and Shelby County Board of Adjustment that would enable them to establish a brewery there. Current rules allow for a “microbrewery” to produce up to 15,000 barrels (or 465,000 gallons) of beer per year. Wiseacre’s planned facility would make much more than that (more details below). The board is set to vote on the matter during its meeting on Wednesday, December 19th.

[pdf-1] The application says the company will build a new facility on 2.5 acres of land around B.B. King and Vance ”that would accommodate a much greater production brewery than current production on Broad Avenue while creating a much larger and more inviting tap-room experience in the Downtown area.”

“The project would [hopefully] be complete by December 2019, with the goal of playing a role in the revitalization of Downtown Memphis,” reads the application. “The current location on Broad Avenue would remain as a small specialty brewhouse.”

Google Maps

B.B. King north of Vance looking toward Downtown.

Plans now call for a 40,000 square-foot facility for an 80,000-barrel production brewery. The company said the brewery will connect South Main to South City.

“We reached capacity at our original location on Broad Avenue more than two years ago, just three years after we opened it,” Wiseacre co-founder Kellan Bartosch said in a statement Wednesday. “We have had distribution opportunities that we had to turn down because we didn’t have production capacity.

“Our success is ultimately a testament to the people of Memphis – their support made this massive growth possible, and we are so grateful.”

“It’s only fitting that we find another location in our hometown to continue to grow. We are excited to be a part of the renaissance happening in the South Main corridor and look forward to working with the Downtown Memphis Commission to make our vision come to life.”

Memphis and Shelby County Office of Development and Planning

“Through the Wiseacre development, we hope to play a pivotal role in the revitalization of the surrounding community,” reads the application. “The project will eliminate an entire block of voided earth, increase property values, and link the [National] Civil Rights Museum to greater parts of Downtown.

“The plan will create a fun, art-friendly environment with various public works of art and hopes to foster creativity and development in the surrounding area.
[pullquote-1] “The project will improve the perimeter sidewalks and landscape as well as providing a beautification project along the south wall of the facility as well as art from local Memphis artists.”

Wiseacre co-founder and brewmaster Davin Bartosch said “from a technical perspective, the new equipment is thrilling.”

“The more you can control the brewing process, the better the beer will be,” Bartosch said. “We want to make the best beer in the world and make it in Memphis.

“Kellan and I have always loved South Main and its character. Many people have paved the way to make Downtown and South Main what they are. We stand on their shoulders and look forward to providing an authentic Memphis experience in the downtown facility.”

Production will continue at the location on Broad but company officials “have yet to reveal specific plans for the evolution of their current home.” But Davin Bartosch expects the new facility to free up space which will enable them to “blow the doors wide open in terms of creativity.”

With the new facility announce came the news that Kemmons Wilson Companies made an investment in the Wiseacre. Along with providing funding for the Downtown facility, Kemmons Wilson Companies will support future strategic growth, Wiseacre said in a statement.

Construction on the new building is set to begin in winter of 2018.

Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Consultants Plan Monument To Consultants On Memphis Riverfront

Sign greeting visitors to Consultants Park.

Claiming they have “bridged the gap between perception and reality,” a group of consultants has proposed Consultants’ Park, which will be dedicated to the many consultants hired to determine what Memphis should do with its riverfront.

“Since 1924, the city of Memphis has been trying to figure out what to do with this unique space, which overlooks one of the largest, brownest bodies of water in the world, and also Arkansas,” says the Preamble to the Executive Summary of the 2,667-page report issued by the Memphis Riverfront Consultants’ Coalition (MRCC). “Like the hundreds of consultants who came before us, we puzzled about how to polish Mud Island into a Mud Diamond. Then, three days into our recent ayahuasca trance charette, it suddenly hit us. What is more dependable and integral to the Memphis Riverfront experience than the Big Muddy? For the last century, the answer has been, consultants. That’s why we are executing Consultants’ Park, a reminder to all Memphis and the world that consultants matter, and that they must be paid.”
[pullquote-1] “That’s ‘Consultants’, plural,” says the first of the document’s 1,300 footnotes. “Because consultants love company.”

According to the design documents, Consultants’ Park will stretch the entire 2,348 mile length of the eastern bank of the Mississippi. It will include a specially designed “Consultants’ Safe Space Play Area”, where businesses can bring their consultants to frolic in the fresh, humid river air and socialize with other consultants. There will also be a Consultant’s Corner, where citizens can interact with and ask questions of a real live consultant, and then pay them directly in cash for their advice. “We see this as a way to get people off the streets and into cushy consulting gigs,” says the MRCC.

The centerpiece of the park will be a 1,923-foot tall statue of a consultant riding triumphant on a rearing steed. “It’s 1,923 feet tall, because 1923 was the year our consultant forefathers first discovered the Mississippi riverfront,” says the MRCC.
As for the rest of the 2,000+ mile park, the MRCC says “We’ll get food trucks or something.” 

Signage directing visitors to Consultants Park

The project is estimated to cost $1.2 billion. The MRCC points out that only $1 billion of the budget is allotted to consultant’s fees. “It’s a bargain for the taxpayers!”
As of press time, no city officials were available for comment.
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Yes, this is a PARODY. Didn’t you see the black and yellow tab at the top.

Categories
Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Roll Local with Memphis Made Comic, Stoned Ninja

Gabriel DeRanzo and Greg Cravens seem like unlikely partners. Cravens is a veteran illustrator, cartoonist, and comic strip creator. DeRanzo has a sterling reputation as a bartender, but when he and Cravens met at 901 Comics in a networking session for artists interested in contributing to Bad Dog comics first Memphis-made anthology of graphic fiction, he had no idea what he was doing. What did the inexperienced DeRanzo possess that nobody else had? A completed script. According to Cravens, who’s been around the block a time or two, that made all the difference.

“Other people may have had ideas,” Cravens says, explaining why he gravitated toward DeRanzo. “But he had a completed 5-page script.” According to all involved, it wasn’t a very good 5-page script, but it was a spark — a beginning. There were plots to be hammered out and characters to develop. There was also an ethos to explore: The weed should be freed — and it would be too if not for those meddling, “Pharmaceutical companies, the alcohol industry, and organized crime,” and money spent on “politicians to keep it illegal.”

Enter the Stoned Ninja. 

The meet-up where DeRanzo and Cravens first teamed up is part of the origin story for 901’s house brand, Bad Dog Comics, which published its second anthology earlier this month. Bad Dog will soon publish the second installment of DeRanzo and Cravens’ Stoned Ninja, which is currently receiving its finishing touches. Meanwhile, the creators continue to produce t-shirts and other fun, useful merchandise that, if things go according to plan, may ultimately position Stoned Ninja for wider distribution than most indie comics ever see. What has Stoned Ninja got that other indie comics don’t? Its own brand of ninja-approved, 100 percent hemp rolling papers, that’s what. 

Samples from 901 Comics Anthology Vol. 2

“When I was a kid, comics were in every grocery store and quickie mart in the country, and they aren’t anymore,” Cravens says explaining the potential for head shops to expand comic distribution. “The market has narrowed down to where you have to go hard target search for a comic shop to go get comics,” he says. “What we’ve got is something we can sell in another store to another targeted audience. So, that’s the pitch when we approach larger publishers. There are potentially 25,000 more shops you can put your comic into, if you’ll just pay attention.”

“Given the content of the comic I figured there was no reason to go less than 100% pure hemp,” DeRanzo says of Stoned Ninja rolling papers. “So it’s as good a quality paper as anything out there and we’re offering fun packaging. On the inside flap there’s a comic and we’re going to change that flap every time we put in a new order. So Stoned Ninja will be like Bazooka Joe Bubble gum.”

Stoned Ninja was originally inspired by the classic Kung Fu comedy Drunken Master, and developed as a means to explore pot culture beyond the usual burnout stereotypes.

“So I asked myself, if there can be a Drunken Master, why can’t there be a Stoned Ninja?” DeRanzo says.

Roll Local with Memphis Made Comic, Stoned Ninja

Don’t anticipate kung fu Cheech and Chong, or Jackie Chan-inspired antics, even. Stoned Ninja is packed with fun stuff. Pizza boxes (featuring DeRanzo’s face) make cameos. The hero, Japanese American college student Kazunori Takagi, appears and disappears in clouds of dank smelling smoke. But, for being the story of a young man granted ninja superpowers by toking on a special strain of marijuana, the narrative content is fairly straight-faced.

For 10-years DeRanzo daydreamed about Stoned Ninja while he tended bar. “I had this insane amount of story content for movie ideas,” he says says. Comics weren’t in the plan so when Shannon Merritt from 901 said he wanted to start making comics DeRanzu said, “That’s great, I will buy your comics!”

“No,” Merritt answered. “I want you to help me make these comics.”

One problem: DeRanzo couldn’t draw. Okay, two problems: He had no experience writing either. But the characters were there. And after a decade of thinking about it, the stories were there too. So DeRanzo leaned on Cravens’ experience in graphic storytelling, and Cravens trusted DeRanzo’s vision. Inker Josh Lindsey has since joined the team.

“I drew the knives all wrong,” Cravens says, admitting a learning curve of his own. DeRanzo gave his illustrator some sharp examples as a gift. “I nearly cut my toe off twice,” Cravens says of his sample cutlery experience. But now his knives are proper.

Samples from Stoned Ninja

“Right now we’re trying to build the first six issue story arc at a pace that lets us be normal people. Once it’s done we plan to release it on a monthly schedule. Ideally going mass distribution,” DeRanzo says.

For the completely appropriate price of $4.20, comics are available locally at 901 Comics, Whatever stores, The Wild Hare smoke shop, Tobacco Zone, and Memphis Made Brewery. Stoned Ninja starter packs, which include a comic book, a t-shirt, and a pack of Stoned Ninja rolling papers are available online at stonedninjacomics.com.

DeRanzo, Cravens, Lindsey

Categories
News News Blog

City Council Unable to Reach Decision on District 1 Appointee


After more than 100 rounds of voting, the Memphis City Council was unable to reach a decision and fill the vacant District 1 seat Tuesday night.

The meeting stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning, as council members stood deadlocked on the the top two vote-getters from earlier rounds: Rhonda Logan and Lonnie Treadaway.

Throughout the rounds, Logan repeatedly received six votes — one shy of winning. While, Treadaway consistently received two or three votes. In many of the rounds, Council Chairman Berlin Boyd passed.

Tensions flared Tuesday night about three hours in as councilwoman Jamita Swearengen told the council “it’s a shame” that they’ve been there for so long when Logan only needs one more vote. Swearengen also told Boyd he should “join us in the process,” and vote for one of the candidates.

“Don’t get pissed at me because I don’t want to vote for someone,” Boyd said.

Councilman Reid Hedgepeth, also looking to reach a decision in a timely manner, said “vote for Lonnie Treadaway and end this.”

Logan, the executive director of the Raleigh Community Development Corp., said she has been involved with the community in District 1 for over 20 years now. Treadaway, sales manager of Flinn Broadcasting Corp., told the council that he’s only lived in the district since July.

Supporters of Logan were council members Swearengen, Martavious Jones, Patrice Robinson, Joe Brown, as well as Edmund Ford Jr. and Janis Fullilove, whose last council meeting was Tuesday.

Council members Worth Morgan, Frank Colvett Jr., J Ford Canale, Hedgepeth, and on a handful of occasions Boyd, supported Treadaway.

After three motions to recess the meeting failed, Boyd, despite objections, calls for the meeting to picked up in two weeks.

After an earlier attempt to recess the meeting, Brown told Boyd that was “corruptible,” and was echoed by Swearengen who expressed concern that recessing until December 4th would mean that Fullilove and Ford won’t get to vote, as their resignations become official November 23rd and 25th respectively.

Now, a 10-member council will vote on the District 1 appointee at its Tuesday, December 4th meeting.

Categories
News News Blog

TBI: Investigating All Officer Shootings Here Could Stretch Resources


Representatives from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) told a Memphis City 

Council committee Tuesday that the agency is concerned about the amount of personnel it would require to investigate all officer-involved shootings in Shelby County.

Jimmy Musice, attorney and policy adviser for TBI said the bureau has limited resources and that other small Tennessee counties could lose some of those resources if TBI investigated all officer-involved shootings here.

“It’s difficult to be tasked with something we may not have the appropriate resources to do,” Musice said.

Musice said historically TBI has investigated the majority of officer-involved shooting cases in rural counties, as they typically don’t have the resources to investigate independently.

[pullquote-1]

It wasn’t until after the 2014 shooting of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri that the state’s four large counties — Shelby, Knox, Davidson, and Hamilton — began asking TBI to step in, Musice said.

Of the 70 officer-involved shootings that TBI said took place between 2013 and 2018 in Shelby County, the bureau has only been asked to investigated 15 incidents.

Councilman Martavious Jones asked how much of TBI’s resources would be strained if the policy only applied to Davidson and Shelby Counties and added that because Tennessee’s four big counties are the largest contributors to the state’s budget, some of that money should go back to Shelby County for these investigations.

“The only contention I make is why not give us a return on our investment,” Jones said. “We send all of this money to Nashville for it to be dispersed throughout the 94 counties. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.”

However, Shelby County District Attorney Amy Weirich, Shelby County Sheriff Floyd Bonner Jr., and Memphis Police Department Director Michael Rallings all agreed that the policy that is in place now is working. The policy, or memo of understanding (MOU), now only requires that TBI be asked to step in to investigate officer-involved shootings that result in death.

“We’re trying to be as transparent as possible,” Bonner said. “We want people to know that all law enforcement officers in this area are doing the right thing. Nobody’s trying to hide anything.”

Rallings added that no one ever talks about the law, which he said is very simple: “An officer can use deadly force to protect themselves when threatened with deadly force or a third party is.”

“If that’s applicable to the situation, then that shooting is probably going to be ruled justified,” Rallings said. “It’s not pretty. It’s never pretty when an officer uses deadly force, but it’s necessary.”

Still, Rallings said officer-involved shootings have not been an issue in Memphis, despite the high number of violent crimes.

[pullquote-2]

Without the support of the aforementioned officials, Councilman Worth Morgan said it would be bad policy to support the move.

“I don’t see any way we can support this without having our experts who are sitting right in front of us in agreement with it,” Morgan said. “I don’t think that’s good policy or government. They have my full confidence unless somebody can show me real evidence that proves otherwise.”

Rep. G.A. Hardaway disagreed with the officials and Morgan, saying that the MOU is just the starting point. The MOU is open to interpretation and not does include any repercussions for not adhering to it, he said.

“It’s not about what the state is willing to spend for public safety, but about what the people of Shelby County and Memphis deserve,” Hardaway said.


TBI has access to funds that local agencies don’t, Hardaway added. “The bottom line is that the state has the resources.”

“That’s what your legislators from this area are charged with,” Hardaway said. “We go to Nashville and put in place public policy to get the appropriations to serve our community.”

[pullquote-3]

Hardaway also said that it’s not that TBI can’t conduct the investigations because “they’re already doing it for somebody else who isn’t paying their full part.”

“What will it [the legislation] do again?” Hardaway said. “It will deliver truth and justice by collecting the facts in a timely fashion with objectivity.”

The council didn’t vote on a resolution Tuesday, but Councilman Edmund Ford Jr., whose resignation from the council and transition to the Shelby County Commission becomes effective on November 25th, said he “would like to see this body act.”


Categories
Sports Tiger Blue

Three Thoughts on Tiger Football

CREDIT: Larry Kuzniewski

• First of all, my sincere apologies for misreading the tea leaves for the American Athletic Conference standings last week. I was guilty of applying linear logic to the Tigers’ chances for winning the West Division: They’d need one more win than Tulane to advance to the AAC championship game, the Green Wave having beaten Memphis earlier this season. Lesson learned: no linear logic in three-way or four-way ties. Tulane beat the Tigers, indeed, but the Green Wave lost to Houston and SMU. Memphis beat the Mustangs, so if they beat the Cougars this Friday, they’ll have a better record within the three-way (or four-way) tie than Tulane’s. Were I a Tulane football player, I’d cringe at the sight of Memphis playing for the league title. But I’d especially regret the losses to those teams from Texas.

Larry Kuzniewski

Memphis coach Mike Norvell

• Memphis football desperately needs an annual conference “rivalry game.” Well, we have it Friday at the Liberty Bowl. With Southern Miss and UAB no longer annual clashes, the cat-fight between the U of M and UH has become the most meaningful contest on the Tiger schedule. (Memphis has dominated its series with Tulane for too long, owning a 22-12-1 advantage even after this year’s Green Wave victory.) The Tigers have won the last two meetings with Houston after dropping six straight from 2006 to 2015. (Houston leads the series, 15-11.) The aggregate score of the the last four games between these teams (split two each): Memphis 148, Houston 145.

• I love Senior Day, and love the way it falls near Thanksgiving. Commitment to a football program — from its players — is the only chance a program has to succeed. The annual pregame salute to departing players honors this commitment, and with families on the field. It’s wonderful.

Two of this year’s seniors — Sam Craft (WR) and Jackson Dillon (LB) — played their first games for Memphis in 2013. They each endured two redshirt seasons to recover from injuries so have been a part of all five winning clubs since 2014. Craft even snuck in some basketball for coach Josh Pastner’s squad in 2016.

I don’t like the expression “supporting role” for young men who have donned helmets and pads in heat and cold for years without any limelight while helping their team improve on a daily basis. So let’s say the following seniors have played building roles for Memphis: Ross Anderson (DB, White Station High School), Noah Arrindell (DB, Houston High School), Tim Belles (LS, Houston High School), Hayden Ferrari (WR, Christian Brothers High School), and Brandon Murphy (DL).

Emmanuel Cooper (DL) has been part of the Tigers’ pass rush and contributed 4.5 tackles-for-loss this season. Tito Windham (CB) has been a two-year starter and leads the Tigers this year with two interceptions. Linebacker Curtis Akins is a three-year starter and leads Memphis with 72 tackles this season (43 of them solo). No unit has been more impacted by seniors this season than the Tigers’ offensive line. Center Drew Kyser will play in his 51st game (and make his 50th start) against Houston. (Kyser is the first and only Tiger to share an alligator-hunting story with me.) Left tackle Trevon Tate will make his 46th start against the Cougars and was a preseason all-conference pick by Athlon. Right tackle Roger Joseph will make his 24th start Friday.

Get to the Liberty Bowl early (kickoff is 11 a.m.) to help send these Tigers off the right way. A winning tradition requires time . . . and players like these.

Categories
News News Blog

Metal Museum Eyes Overton Park Expansion

CREDIT: Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Metal Museum leaders are looking to expand the museum to Memphis College of Art’s (MCA) Rust Hall in Overton Park in a $45 million proposed project.

MCA officials announced in October 2017 the school would close because of ”declining enrollment, overwhelming real estate debt, and no viable long-term plan for financial sustainability.” The school is expected to be fully closed by 2020.

Earlier this year, city leaders launched Project Overton Park to envision the future for Rust Hall and the Brooks Museum of Art, as its leaders eye a move to a new location on the Memphis riverfront.
[pullquote-1] Carissa Hussong, the Metal Museum’s executive director, said when the city issues a request for proposals for Rust Hall, the museum intends to submit an application.

The museum would keep its French Fort location on the river for residency programs. Rust Hall would be the site of the museum’s exhibition spaces, metalworking facilities with apprentices, commissions, and repairs, and an expanded education program, Hussong said.

To get there, the Metal Museum has kicked off a $45 million capital campaign. It includes $21 million for renovations to Rust Hall, $4 million in renovations to its existing campus, and a $20 million endowment “to ensure the museum’s ongoing financial stability and to provide adequate resources to maintain Rust Hall.”

“At first, when the idea of Rust Hall was mentioned to me, I thought, why would we do that?” Hussong said. “We have such a beautiful location that is such a part of our history. But the more I thought about it, I thought, maybe we could do both.”

The Metal Museum is six years into a process to re-envision its campus, Hussong said. They’ve been working with Looney Ricks Kiss, a local architectural, planning, and interior design firm, on a new campus master plan. They’ve also been conducting surveys “to see what people want and to what we’re doing well and not doing well,” she said.

“What we’ve gotten from that process is more — people have said we want more of everything,” Hussong said.

Metal Museum/Facebook

Should the museum be chosen for expansion into Rust Hall, the French Fort location could be home to am artist-in-residency program that “does not exist elsewhere in the United States.“ Metalworking requires lots of heavy equipment, Hussong said, and moving it is expensive. That makes traditional metalworking residencies long (lasting years) and costly.

The Metal Museum’s on-site equipment would give ”emerging metalsmiths access to equipment they not afford early in their careers.” Its onsite housing could also lower the cost and shorten the time of residencies.

At Rust Hall, the museum would have the opportunity for a “more robust class offering.” It has no dedicated classrooms now, Hussong said. Also, no indoor space means they haven’t offered summer camps or courses.

“There are a lot of things we would be able to do in a larger location and we’d really be able to expand our programming,” she said.

The museum now has about 25,000 square feet, a staff of 19, an annual operating budget of about $1.5 million, and about 30,000 visitors each year.

Museum leaders have said the move would also allow the museum to triple its exhibition space, triple its annual visitor number, educate at least 3,800 students each year, triple the metalworking space, enlarge the museum store, and more. 

Categories
News News Blog

Former TVA and MLGW Heads Criticize Nuclear Power Proposal

CREDIT: TVA

TVA

Bellefonte nuclear plant

The former chairman for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) joined former Memphis Light, Gas, and Water (MLGW) president in speaking out against a proposal for Memphis to switch to a nuclear power source.

Dave Freeman, former TVA head, and Herman Morris Jr., former MLGW leader, sent a letter dated November 19th to the Memphis City Council and Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland, urging them not to support the proposal for MLGW to switch from TVA to the Alabama-based nuclear plant, Bellefonte.

A representative from the group Nuclear Development LLC told the council last month that the switch could save Memphis $500 million a year.

“We write to express our grave concern that the city of Memphis is considering the purchase of electricity from the unfinished Bellefonte nuclear power reactors,” the letter reads. “This plant is so outdated that even TVA couldn’t complete them after a half of century of trying.”

The letter continues, urging the mayor and council to heed the advice of current MLGW president J.T. Young, who told the council he was skeptical about the proposal at its October 9th meeting.

One of Young’s concerns was whether or not Nuclear Development would be able to complete the construction of the plant.

The pair said that the plant’s two unfinished reactors, which were first designed in the 1960s are “woefully out-of-date.”

Even if construction of the reactors is completed, Morris and Freeman argue that the cost to maintain the plant would be “enormous,” meaning the price of power would be more expensive than from TVA or from other “clean, safe, renewable resources like solar and wind power.”

“This fact is why old nuclear power plants around the country are closing,” the letter reads. “They simply cannot compete against safer, cleaner, and better 21st century energy technologies.”

Additionally, the letter cites that Memphis is TVA’s largest customer, and that Bellefonte could not provide power to all of the city, as it is “too small to meet all our needs.”

“At best, Bellefonte could provide only a fraction of the power supply that Memphis would need,” while the rest would have to come from other sources outside of Nuclear Development’s ownership.

The duo urged the council to await the December release of MLGW’s study on long-term power supply options

“We therefore urge you to say ‘NO!’ to an attempt by Nuclear Development LLC to mislead Memphians with unsupported claims of cost savings in order for it to obtain a handout from the federal government.”