Greg Cravens
About Toby Sells’ reporting on the Memphis Zoo/Greensward controvery …
Since it appears that certain members of the city council and Memphis Zoo administration are seeking to manipulate the Greensward situation into a racial/class issue, I am curious: How many members of the city council and zoo board are members of country clubs?
Not everyone can pay tens of thousands of dollars annually to enjoy protected, well-maintained, greenspace within the city limits. I would wager that at least half of the zoo board, if not more, are members of country clubs. And I would bet that Reid Hedgepeth, Philip Spinosa, Kemp Conrad, and Worth Morgan are also country club members, many of which to this day do not allow non-white members — or parking on their golf courses. Such irony.
Mary Ost
Memphis is very fortunate to have a world-class zoo in a gorgeous historic park in the center of our city. Their embellishment and preservation are the result of immense commitment and decades of hard work.
While I personally oppose continued development in Overton Park, there may be a parking solution that also increases park space. If park and zoo users decide that resolving the parking problem includes a garage, then why not aim for an ambitious innovative project, also world-class, that everyone could support? Why not make a spectacular parking structure that is a fusion of creature habitat and increased park space? The zoo experience could actually begin when one enters the garage, and the structure itself could become a vehicle for a new, permanent exhibit as well as a natural addition to the park.
A solution that vertically increases natural park space and provides car storage could be designed to connect the park and the zoo together instead of having them separated. Why not create something that’s so innovative, inviting, and beautiful that people come from all over to experience it, along with the park and the zoo? We could transform a contentious conflict into a fantastic, positive experience that brings us together and demonstrates what a wonderful, creative place Memphis is.
Roy Tamboli
I cannot believe that the city council would even consider giving land that belongs to and is used by the citizens of Memphis to the Memphis Zoo. I have always loved and supported the zoo, but since the zoo has displayed a total lack of respect toward nature and toward me, as a citizen, I do not feel the same way.
Overton Park is public land. I am an owner and financial supporter of public land, so, I am being disrespected by the zoo’s and the city council’s refusal to get off my lawn! The citizens of Memphis fought to keep the interstate from going through the park, and now we’ve been thrown into another battle against an organization that, up until now, I have always considered to be a great asset to Memphis.
Overton Park is also a great asset to Memphis, and the zoo and city council need to acknowledge and respect that. A parking garage needs to be built so that the zoo will have parking and our public land will still be ours. Funds can be found for a garage. A corporation in town would be willing to put their name on it. Just think how warm and fuzzy people would feel about the corporation that was smart enough to build it.
It’s time the city council started listening to the people who put them in office. We want the zoo to get off our lawn, get out of our Old Forest, and stay away from Rainbow Lake!
Linley Schmidt
About The Donald …
We the people are fed up with the lies and deceit of the greedy politicians who think more of themselves than the people they represent. They are a group of self-righteous individuals who capitalize on every opportunity to benefit themselves. Our voice is being heard, loud and clear. Politicians, you will mistreat us no more!
We will elect a person who is not a politician and cannot be bought, one who is on a mission to take this country back and restore the greatness that it once had. We will elect Donald J. Trump! And so it shall be!
George Devine