Month: December 2018

A new public gathering and green space, dubbed The Ravine, is coming to Downtown, leaders with the project announced Wednesday.

The $5 million project will transform an undefined corridor in the Edge District between Union and Madison into a “vibrant and activated space” with distinct areas that could include a retail plaza, kid-friendly play area with water features, flexible seating, an amphitheater-style performance venue, event spaces, and restaurants, officials said.

Ethan Knight, spokesperson for The Ravine and vice president of development for the real estate firm behind the project, Development Services Group (DSG), said the space will be designed for “community, recreation, and artistry,” and will seek to engage every type of visitor.

“The Edge District currently lacks a true public gathering point,” Knight said. “The Ravine will fill the void and set a national example by converting unused and largely unknown space into a public-private asset.”

Dalhoff Design Studio

Current view of the project’s future site

Dean Thomas, principal of Dalhoff Design Studio, design partner for the Ravine, said in a city, it’s important to have spaces for people to interact and gather throughout the day.

“The design for The Ravine provides this for users of all backgrounds and abilities through a diversity of experiences woven within a relaxing green space for daily use, a lively retail plaza, opportunities for play, and an entertainment destination,” Thomas said. “We are extremely excited to bring this vision for the park to life.”

The multi-phase project got the green light and a $400,000 incentive Wednesday from the Downtown Memphis Commission’s (DMC) economic development board to move forward with the first phase of the project.

President and CEO of the DMC, Jennifer anticipates The Ravine creating improved connectivity within the Central Business Improvement District (CBID), an area identified by the DMC as requiring special redevelopment attention in order to ensure the economic growth and vitality of the entire community.

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The CBID is generally bounded by the Wolf River on the north, Crump Boulevard on the south, the Tennessee state line on the west, and Danny Thomas Boulevard on the east, with an extension between Poplar and Linden to Watkins to encompass the Medical District.

“We believe in the vision behind this project and in investing in connectivity throughout the CBID,” Oswalt said. “This is a prime example of a development that meets the DMC’s two-fold goal directly: to increase the volume of people engaging in activities in Downtown and to increase commercial property values across the CBID.”

Totaling $1.7 million, the first phase will include hard construction and infrastructure and is slated to be completed by May 2019.

Dalhoff Design Studio

The second phase includes the completion of all hardscaping and landscaping, as well as installing lighting, seating, a performance stage and related equipment, gateway arches, salvaged bakery silos, slides, and other features.

Phase two is expected to begin by October 2019 and wrap up in early 2020. A third and final phase will include art, interactive play structures, commissioned sculptures and murals, bridge connections, and more enhanced lighting.

Leaders of the project say funding for the future phases will require a substantial public-private partnership and will be sought from local and national foundations, corporations, and individuals.

Tommy Pacello, president of the Memphis Medical District Collaborative, said the Edge district is a largely forgotten about area of the city, but The Ravine will help change that by connecting the area to the rest of the city.

“This project is the latest example of the transformation of a largely forgotten area of our city into what will be a surprising public space, rich in texture and experiences,” Pacello said. “Ethan and his team are creatively blending private real estate investment with the public good. When combined, The Ravine and the redevelopment of adjacent buildings will better connect the Edge to the rest of the city while also creating a valuable public asset.”

There’s a new comprehensive plan to guide the city forward as it approaches its bicentennial and officials want to know what you think.

A little over 400 pages long, the Memphis 3.0 plan took two years to devise and is a combined effort of city officials, local nonprofits, community partners, and more than 15,000 residents.

The plan largely focuses on “building up, not out,” aiming to support existing residents, attract new residents and visitors, and reduce inequities. In the past, city leaders focused on annexation and expanding the city limits, but that led to resources being spread thin and had adverse effects on the core neighborhoods, according to the document.

The idea is to improve and invest in the city’s core and surrounding neighborhoods in order to create dense, walkable, connected communities.

The plan has eight specific goals that fall under three categories: land, connectivity, and opportunity. The goals include creating:

•Complete, cohesive communities

The document also details specific strategies for nurturing, accelerating, or sustaining certain neighborhoods within the city’s 14 planning districts. For example, the plan suggests that The Edge neighborhood should be accelerated by increasing its cultural identity and incentivizing the rehab and adaptive reuse of structures.

The plan also touches on transportation, safe streets, housing, parks, the environment, as well as access to fresh food, jobs, and education.

The public has until February 8th to submit feedback on the plan via email to info@memphis3point0.com, via mail to the Office of Comprehensive Planning, or fax at 901-636-6603.

The plan is slated to go before the Memphis and Shelby County Land Use Control Board for adoption on February 14th, followed by the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission.

If adopted, the Memphis 3.0 plan will guide future policies, investments, and partnerships made by the city over the next 20 years.

The Memphis City Council delayed filling its three vacant seats Tuesday until the first meeting of 2019.

All of the 10-member council was present at Tuesday’s meeting, following a walkout staged by four members at the last scheduled meeting earlier this month.

Supporting candidate Rhonda Logan, council members Joe Brown, Jamita Swearengen, Patrice Robinson, and Martavious Jones walked out of the December 4th meeting after Councilman Kemp Conrad made a motion to open the floor back up to all six candidates vying for the District 1 spot. The four council members called that move unfair, as Logan is the district’s choice candidate.

The walkout came during a continuation of the council’s November 20th meeting, which ended in a deadlock after more than 100 rounds of voting on the top two vote-getters from the previous rounds: Logan, who is the executive director of the Raleigh Community Development Corp., and Lonnie Treadaway, sales manager for Flinn Broadcasting Corp. Throughout the rounds of voting that night, Logan consistently garnered six votes, one shy of winning the seat.

The day after the walkout, at the first of four standing meetings called in an attempt to reach a quorum, Treadaway withdrew his bid for the seat, saying he wanted to do what’s best for the city.

The remaining six council members called their colleagues’ no-show “embarrassing” and “sad,” as without a quorum, the council was unable to vote on other city business on the December 4th agenda. However, last week council attorney Allen Wade suggested that the city charter deems a quorum as the majority of “duly elected officials,” and because the council is currently a 10-member body, six made a quorum.

Tuesday, the four council members who participated in the walkout returned to work, giving the council a quorum and enabling business to resume as usual.

But tensions flared once more when council member Reid Hedgepeth made a motion to allow only two more rounds of voting for Logan and if she didn’t get the six votes needed to win she would be eliminated. Though highly contested by Swearengen and Jones, that motion passed.

Logan, receiving four votes in both rounds, failed to garner the votes needed and was eliminated.

After a much heated debate over council rules and what constitutes a majority, Hedgepeth made a motion to delay the vote for the District 1 seat until the January 8th meeting, saying that in the meantime the council needs to find someone “that can get seven votes.”

During the public comments portion of the meeting, speakers criticized the council’s actions, in some cases, claiming their lack of support for Logan is racially motivated.

The council also delayed the vote to fill the Super District 8-2 and District 6 seats vacated by Janis Fullilove and Edmund Ford Jr. in November. 

Descendants of Nathan Bedford Forrest filed a lawsuit Monday against the city of Memphis, the Memphis City Council, and Memphis Greenspace Inc. for the desecration the family’s gravesite.

The Forrest family, including five of Forrest’s great-great grandsons filed the complaint Monday in a Shelby County Chancery Court, saying that the defendants “willfully and knowingly conspired to, and did, in fact, desecrate the graves and headstone monument of N. B. Forrest and wife Mary Ann Forrest in December 2017 by the defendants’ illegal removal of the monument and other actions.”

The equestrian statue of Forrest was removed from Health Sciences park last December

by the nonprofit Memphis Greenspace, minutes after the city council approved the transfer of the parks to the nonprofit.

Forrest and his wife still remain buried where the statue once stood

The Forrest statue, along with one of Confederate president Jefferson Davis and a bust of Confederate Capt. Harvey Mathes, which were also removed a year ago, are still being stored in an undisclosed location.

The family maintains that the city violated several sections of the Tennessee Code Annotated relating to historic sites, cemeteries, burial sites, headstones, and monuments. The family also said the city and others violated the Tennessee Heritage Protection Act when the gravesites of Forrest and his wife were disturbed.

Now, the Forrest family is seeking the repair and re-installation of the Forrest statue and the headstones of the graves, as Forrest and his wife are still buried in the park.

Bruce McMullen, chief legal officer for the city of Memphis said the city anticipated this lawsuit and is prepared to defend its actions.

“Every oversight body, including the courts and state comptroller, has found our actions to be lawful or appropriate,” McMullen said. “We expect the same outcome in this case. The city sold Health Sciences and Memphis parks to Memphis Greenspace, legally.”