Few issues have divided sentiment on the Memphis City Council and
the Shelby County Commission more than that of the proposed leasing of
the Pyramid to Bass Pro Shop. In general, officials of the city, which
shares ownership rights to the building with the county and owns
outright the surrounding property, tend to see Bass Pro as the only
extant suitor for the facility, which city and county taxpayers are
still paying for and which continues to soak up stout maintenance costs
even while standing idle. The building’s potential uses are strictly
limited by a contract with the NBA’s Grizzlies that grants first dibs
to the FedExForum for all athletic and entertainment activities.
The prime movers for the turnover of the dormant facility to the
giant outdoors-oriented chain have always been city-side, with Robert
Lipscomb, a longtime ally of Mayor Willie Herenton and the head of the
city’s arena reuse committee, leading the charge. Even on the
commission, where several proposed agreements relating to Bass Pro
(including the sale of the county’s ownership share to the city) were
consistently blocked until this week, the main proponent for an
understanding favorable to the chain has consistently and vociferously
been Sidney Chism, another Herenton intimate.
Shelby County mayor A C Wharton has, however, also been on board for
an agreement with Bass Pro. The main county opposition has come from a
de facto caucus of commissioners who transcend the normal partisan
dividing lines. The opponents of a deal have nursed, together or
singly, a variety of objections — that a city landmark should not
be assigned to what some have called a glorified “bait shop”; that Bass
Pro has offered insufficient financial safeguards and vague development
proposals; and — something that has been spoken to only obliquely
in discussions on the commission — that the deal does not pass
“the smell test,” that somehow the “fix was in” on arrangements with
Bass Pro.
As it happened, the two commissioners who uttered those last two
caveats were on the prevailing side of the 9-3 commission vote Monday
that finally authorized Bass Pro to pursue a development deal with the
city and county. And that’s as good a sign as any that progress (if
that’s the right word) has been made more out of fatigue and
exasperation over the years of wrangling than because of anybody’s
belief that anything is likely to come to fruition. Indeed,
commissioners on both sides of Monday’s vote were predicting afterward
that a combination of a bad economy and Bass Pro’s foot-dragging
attitude made consummation of a completed development unlikely.
In any case, it’s now up to Bass Pro — which is obligated to a
$35,000 monthly rental during the next year (and very little else)
— to put up or shut up. Its critics have accused the chain of
dilatory tactics in negotiations with other cities and with floating
sham proposals for the sake of brand advertising. There is an easy way
to counter that contention now that official resistance on the part of
local government is no more. All the chain has to do, having been
granted a year for “feasibility” studies, is put something real on the
table. If, 12 months from now, Bass Pro hasn’t done so, that should be
the end of it, and the city and county will just have to start over in
looking for a tenant.