Tonight is the first of the final two Mud Island public input meetings held by the Riverfront Development Corporation.
I have a feeling that it’s going to be packed with skaters and derby girls, so if skate parks don’t interest you, or you think they are a really horrible idea for the island, you should go. Or, if you think they’re a great idea, you should go. Or, if there’s anything you feel strongly about having on Mud Island, be it a museum or a restaurant or whatever, you should go. That’s how the process works.
My idea is to keep the park open past 6 p.m. on summer weekends but that’s just me. People are always talking about wanting some place to watch the sun set — personally, I think we have plenty such places — but if the park is only open until 6, the sun hasn’t set yet.
Here was my last experience at Mud Island. It was a Sunday and one of the prettiest days of the summer — one of those in August that were just unbelievable. Now, like many Memphians, I don’t go to Mud Island a lot. So on the rare occasions I do go there, it’s the RDC’s chance to woo me. Instead my friend and I got chased away by a squawking security guard. She actually shooed us.
And since we were at the Little Gulf of Mexico at the time, we literally could not leave fast enough for her. I mean, it’s a five-block walk and I was wearing heels. I wasn’t going to break into a jog. But that’s what she seemed to want.
Anyway, tonight’s meeting is at 5:45 at the Memphis Botanic Gardens. Thursday’s meeting is at 5:45 at the Mud Island River park.
