Author: Kimberly Kim

Members of the Memphis City Council passed a resolution last week
giving them approval over any proposed demolition at Overton
Square.

The resolution, brought by council member Shea Flinn, requested that
“the division of planning and development/construction code enforcement
issue no permit for demolition in Overton Square without approval by
the Memphis City Council.”

“If someone wants to tear it down, they have to come forth and say
why and talk about it with us,” Flinn said. “It allows dialogue to
happen, and a principle of smart growth is having community dialogue.
… We’re looking for participation in the development of this historic
district.”

Overton Square, once a bustling entertainment district, includes
several vacant retail spaces on the south side of Madison Avenue. Since
exact plans for redevelopment of the square are unknown, members of
Memphis Heritage are hoping for more dialogue with the developers,
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG).

“It doesn’t mean that they can’t ever tear it down,” West said of
the resolution. “We are trying to create an environment where the
owners and developers can both come to the table.”

AWG was unavailable for comment.

“Because of where [the new development is] going to be and the
history of this location and what it could be, the neighbors and
stakeholders feel that it is very vital that they be included in the
conversation,” West said. “What this area is going to be and what’s
going to happen is important to us.”

Though the Land Use Control Board recently approved the proposed
Memphis and Shelby County Unified Development Code, at least one city
division doesn’t approve: Memphis Light, Gas & Water.

The proposed development code updates the almost 30-year-old zoning
ordinance and incorporates all the amendments since then in one central
document. It also includes some substantial changes, such as allowing
for a greater variety of housing, in part to stimulate redevelopment in
the city’s urban core.

“It’s all an academic exercise if it didn’t do anything to help
urban revitalization,” project manager Don Jones said at a meeting in
April. “We have been on a cycle of sprawl since the current ordinance
was adopted, if not before. We need to encourage development inside the
beltway because that’s where the infrastructure is.”

General standards for different zones dictate lot sizes, how far
houses or buildings are set back from the street, the width of streets,
and other measures. According to Jones, the greatest change to the code
replaces many of the suburban standards of the current document with
more urban standards, including more flexibility for
pedestrian-friendly and mixed-use developments.

“Developments that are more urban in nature are more focused on the
pedestrian, and those that are suburban require a car to get around and
are much less walkable,” said assistant city attorney Tommy Pacello.
“In the 1980s, we were operating under a much more suburban
mindset.”

The new unified code would also remove some of the barriers to
infill development.

Not everyone is happy with the changes, however. At last week’s Land
Use Control Board meeting, Alonzo Weaver, vice president of engineering
and operations at MLGW, voiced the utility’s concerns about the
proposal.

“The current draft does not address our needs,” Weaver said.
“Although the unified development code mandates underground utilities,
it does not provide an easement for them. Because we are not provided
designated technical space in the street design, parts of citizens’
front yards will now become utility easements.”

The Office of Planning and Development is scheduled to meet with
MLGW officials before the proposal goes to the City Council and the
County Commission.

Overton Square is in danger of becoming more of a box.

Plans for the square include tearing down existing buildings, such
as the former T.G.I. Fridays, on the south side of Madison and placing
a strip mall there or constructing a big-box grocery store in the
southwest corner of the adjacent parking lot.

In a meeting organized by Memphis Heritage last week, architects,
planners, and Midtown residents came together to discuss the current
development plans for Overton Square, plans that many at the meeting
did not agree with.

“I would hate to see the buildings torn down,” said David Hanson.
“The idea of a grocery store is great, but I don’t want to infringe on
anybody else’s rights, especially when they talk about the back of that
building facing the front of the other existing buildings.”

Others wanted to make sure any retail development would meet certain
standards.

“If a grocery store must go there, I would like for it to be an
upscale grocery store, like Trader Joe’s,” said Midtown resident Sara
Holmes.

Memphis Heritage executive director June West contacted Fisher
Capital, one of the Square’s owners, but was told to take her concerns
to the city and not to the owners or AWG, developers for the site.

West also contacted AWG and asked for a meeting, but AWG did not
return her calls.

“If they don’t come to the table, we don’t have any way of knowing
or communicating what we would like to see, and Midtown residents have
a right to say what they would like to see in that area,” West said.
“It’s not that we want to obstruct them. We want to be involved in the
plan.”

Meeting participants also wondered if they could get a moratorium on
development to delay any possible demolition of the area’s
buildings.

“Every city has a heart and in Memphis, it’s Overton Square,” said
Jeanne Arthur, a realtor who handled public relations for the Square in
its early days. “I think that heart still wants to beat.”

courtesy of the salvation army

Retired Salvation Army officer Gertrude Purdue in 1930 and today

Gertrude Purdue has been involved with the Salvation Army for more
than a century.

Born to Salvation Army officers in Massalin, Ohio, in 1909, she
joined the organization in 1930 and married her husband — a
Salvation Army brigadier — in 1934.

To coincide with her 100th birthday, Purdue was honored for her
years of service and dedication to the Army this week at their annual
dinner. Willard Scott — known for his birthday shout-outs on the
Today show — was the keynote speaker.

“She is an amazing lady, and I don’t think I’ve ever met anybody
quite like her,” says Elizabeth Duncan, director of development for the
Salvation Army. “She’s an inspiration to us all.”

Duncan first met Purdue 12 years ago. At the time, Purdue was
88.

“Eighty-eight is a number that would indicate that you were old, but
she proved otherwise,” Duncan says.

Though she retired officially in 1973, Purdue still volunteers at
Memphis’ VA hospital twice a month to distribute magazines and serve
drinks to patients, family members, and caregivers.

“At 15, I knew,” Purdue says. “I saw my parents in action and their
mission to the poor, the hurting, the depraved … and I wanted to do
it, too.”

After attending Kalamazoo Teachers College in Michigan for two
years, she entered Salvation Army officer training in Chicago in 1930.
She then moved to Huntington, Indiana, where she served during the
Great Depression.

“People were desperate. I had one man come by my office, and he said
to me, ‘I’ll kill to feed my children.’ That’s how desperate they
were,” she says.

She and her late husband, Brigadier Bramwell Purdue, met as
teenagers at a Salvation Army camp in Michigan. After getting married,
they lived in 11 cities before moving to Memphis in 1962.

Purdue still serves as a member of the Church Women United, the
White Station Optimist Club, and Quota Club International.

“A man may be down, but he’s never out,” she says, quoting a
Salvation Army slogan. “Give yourself as a service to people who need
your help. There are plenty of people out there who need it.”

Vector control agent Sandy Atkins quietly moves along the fence of
an East Memphis home. It’s a sunny morning, and she expertly moves
bushes aside with a wooden baton, looking carefully for any sign of
rodents.

As the weather warms up, more local residents may find themselves
“smelling a rat,” so to speak. Shelby County households pay a 75-cent
monthly fee for vector control services through the Memphis and Shelby
County Health Department.

In this case, the resident saw a giant rat on her patio. When Atkins
got to the house, she spotted a Norway, or brown, rat climbing up a
tree. The other common local rat is the roof rat, a rodent whose tail
is longer than the length of its body.

Vector control tries to investigate most rodent complaints within
three business days.

During an inspection, the health department staffer “will look for
things that can contribute to rat infestations, such as pet food,
standing water, sewage outcropping, improper storage of wood, and
general sanitation concerns,” says L.C. Garth, manager of vector
control services.

Often the infestation is caused by dog feces, a primary food source
for urban rats.

“Rodents will also make ‘rat runs’ or tracts on the ground that go
from one location in the yard to their burrow,” Atkins says.

After finding nothing along the property’s perimeter, Atkins
searched a nearby shed, placing rodent bait in it. Even if she doesn’t
find evidence of rats, Atkins always places bait on the property as a
preventative measure.

After the inspection, the health department may issue citations to
home-owners who do not maintain their property in a sanitary
manner.

Homeowners can alleviate rat problems in and around homes by keeping
yards and storage areas clean and free of debris.

To report a problem to vector control, call 323-8473.

The Shelby County Division of Corrections facility on Mullins
Station Road used to be known as the Penal Farm. In recent months, the
facility has gone back to its roots.

kimberly kim

‘Sow to Grow’ participants till the corner of Lamar and Walker for a small flower garden.

Last week, a class of inmates — all dressed in blue jeans and
blue correctional facility shirts — busily took notes about
fertilizers and half a dozen grasses as part of the county’s “Sow to
Grow” program. Under the program, minimum-security inmates learn about
gardening from staffers of the county’s division of Public Works, the
UT Agricultural Extension Program, and the correctional facility’s
on-staff horticulturalist. They also work a garden on the grounds of
the facility.

“The curriculum includes veggies, lawns, herbs, and forestry,” says
UT Extension staffer Chris Cooper, the instructor teaching inmates
about grasses and fertilizers. “Next week, we’ll talk about fruits and
nuts.”

The facility had a garden six years ago, but the produce grown then
was mostly to provide fresh fruits and vegetables for the inmates’
meals. Under Sow to Grow, produce will be provided to Memphis area food
banks.

“It gives inmates the chance to give back to the community,” says
Ann Rogers, the correctional facility’s horticulturalist. “Most of them
grew up in Memphis, so they have an interest in the community.”

The program also teaches inmates new skills. Sow to Grow began as
part of a larger program to help inmates reenter society after their
time in prison.

“We hope these young men will be productive employees or be able to
start their own businesses,” Cooper says. “The green industry is a
booming business.”

Twenty-two-year-old Larry Jones, serving time for robbery, had never
gardened before, but he might pursue it when he gets out of prison.

“I might even take a course in college on agriculture,” he says.
“This is something I really want to get into. This is something I can
do.”

In a bid to stabilize neighborhoods, Sow to Grow participants also
are tending small flower gardens on corners and vacant lots in South
Memphis and Frayser.

“Vacant lots are a nationwide issue, but we’re addressing that by
turning them into pocket parks and flower gardens,” says Robert White,
an adviser to Shelby County mayor A C Wharton.

So far, reaction has been positive.

“It’s a wonderful class,” says 30-year-old inmate Antonio Rucker.
“It’s a great investment to learn how to grow different kinds of crops,
plants, grass, and trees.”

Last year, the Memphis Child Advocacy Center raised its flag 14
times, one for every youngster killed by child abuse. That was almost
three times the number of flag raisings as they had the year
before.

And, as the number of domestic violence and child abuse cases rises
across the country, some are blaming the failing economy.

As part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month, the Child Advocacy
Center, the Exchange Club, and Court Appointed Special Advocates for
Children (CASA) will host the “Light of Hope Candlelight Vigil” on
Tuesday, April 21st, to remember children who have died from abuse.

The vigil, now in its seventh year, will take place at Juvenile
Court, 616 Adams, at 5:30 p.m.

Another part of National Child Abuse Prevention Month is CASA’s
“Awareness Project.” For the project, CASA placed white stakes with
blue ribbons in the park across from Juvenile Court. Each of the 3,000
stakes represents an abused or neglected child who went through
Juvenile Court without a CASA volunteer.

“[Court-appointed child advocates] get to know the child and
represent the child only in his or her best interest,” says Amber
Norris, director of development at CASA. “They build trust with that
child, so that the child will speak honestly about what he or she has
gone through, and also so the child will be honest about his/her own
wishes for the future.”

One participant, Jeni Chatham, now a student at Southwest Tennessee
Community College, was abused as a child by her father. After staying
for a time with relatives, she entered the Shelby County foster care
system. She was enrolled in De Neuville Heights High School, a campus
run by the Sisters of the Good Shepherd.

“I know during those years a lot of foster kids had a difficult
time, but I felt blessed to have been there,” she said. “I feel like I
really grew as a person, and I still talk to the sister that was at our
cottage.”

Other National Child Abuse Prevention Month activities include the
5K 4Kids on April 24th and an 100-mile ride on April 25th by Bikers
Against Child Abuse.

Americans love automobiles. Which is perhaps why artist Jeremy Deller used a bombed-out taxi to bring the war in Iraq home.

“This is about America,” he said, “and what’s happening in America, even though the car is not from America.”

Deller’s It Is What It Is: Conversations About Iraq, a traveling art project, was in Memphis last week as part of a cross-country tour from New York to Los Angeles. When asked how he chose that particular car, destroyed in a Baghdad bombing, Deller said, “It chose us.”

Along for the ride were Iraqi artist and journalist Esam Pasha and Jonathan Harvey, a U.S. soldier now serving in the Army Reserves. The trio hopes the project will inspire public discussion about Iraq.

“It’s not an anti-war project, and it’s not a pro-war project — I have to stress that,” Deller said. “You can bring your own opinions to this place and express them, but we’re not going to reflect them back on you.”

A handful of people of all ages wandered into the parking lot of the First Congregational Church in Midtown last week to look at the rusted shell of the taxi, strapped to the bed of a trailer.

“It’s a piece of history being transferred from [Baghdad] to [America],” Pasha said. “I had one of the soldiers tell me that when they look at it, you can imagine what’s happening. It’s just one piece of the whole scene: the burning buildings and the whole war. When I look at it, I can remember what was behind that car.”

The area in Baghdad where the bombing occurred was a historic marketplace that sold and exchanged new and used books.

“The street where the car was bombed has a special place in Iraqi culture and history, because the street itself is very, very old, over 1,200 years,” Pasha said. “It was a street that I went to in high school to buy books.”

The project was commissioned and produced by Creative Time and the New Museum for the Three M project, a collaborative effort between the New Museum in New York, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.

The project’s creators purposely didn’t identify who perpetrated the bombing or how many people died as a result of it.

Said Harvey: “It’s as neutral as we can make it. It is what it is.”