Here’s the latest on Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris’s plans for The Pyramid, as told by a representative of his partner, O.T. Marshall Architects, to a group of downtown stakeholders Thursday.
The plans are “fluid” and some things that were included in June are either out of the picture now or being reconsidered. There will be lodging of some sort inside the building, but the number of rooms (which has been described as “a hotel” and “cabins” in previous statements) is unknown.
The Bass Pro logo will adorn each of the four exterior faces of the building, but there will not be a band of glass around the middle as there was in a rendering displayed at a splashy ceremony with Morris, Mayor A C Wharton, and fishing pro Bill Dance in June. That was deemed too expensive. The fate of the observation deck has not been determined.
The opening is set for late 2013 in time for the holiday sales season. The building of the interior space will begin in February. There will be retail on two levels, as well as an indoor swamp with boat slips so prospective buyers of Tracker boats can see how they feel in the water. The total amount of space in use, including the swamp, is about 200,000 square feet. There will be one restaurant, Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl, and possibly a Starbucks or similar coffee shop. A bowling alley, nature exhibits, and zip lines through the trees are other features. Otherwise Bass Pro will be the only retailer insider the building.
The main entrance is on the south side, with a system of drives, trails, trees, man-made ponds and a stream leading to the doors. There will also be a single entrance on Front Street at street level roughly where there used to be two entrances in the Pyramid’s earlier incarnation. Customer parking lots will be on the south side of the building. There will be no covered parking, only surface parking.
The city of Memphis will solicit a developer for the Pinch District from Front Street to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital after the opening.
