Tag: Memphis River Parks Partnership

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Realpolitik and the River

In five weeks, more or less, Memphians will be voting for a mayor and city council. The three most recognizable mayoral candidates are the incumbent, Jim Strickland, longtime former Mayor Willie Herenton, and activist and County Commissioner Tami Sawyer.

Strickland touts the city’s “momentum” and its surging economic developments. Herenton wants Memphis to “do it again” and send him back to the office he held for several terms during the 1990s and early 2000s. Sawyer, perhaps best-known for her “Take’EmDown901” campaign to remove the city’s Confederate statuary, is raising hell, poking at Strickland’s record, trying to elevate her profile.

A debate between the three of them would be an interesting exercise in democracy and would give the public a chance to see how the candidates handle themselves in the heat of the moment and where the fissures between them exist.

But it doesn’t appear it’s going to occur. Herenton was the first to opt out of a scheduled debate sponsored by The Commercial Appeal and WMC-Channel 5. Strickland then withdrew, saying, via a spokesperson, “without the top challenger in the race participating, an informed and balanced debate could not happen.” Sawyer responded as you might expect: “Mayor Strickland and Herenton are denying taxpayers the right to hear where we all stand on the issues and make an informed choice on who will lead our city over the next [four] years.”

Sawyer is correct, but she’s battling realpolitik. Neither Herenton nor Strickland perceive that they have anything to gain from a debate (see Politics), so any opportunity to avoid such an event will be taken. And that’s too bad because there are a number of issues that could stand a public airing, including the ongoing battle between Memphis in May and the proponents of the redesign of Tom Lee Park by the Memphis River Parks Partnership.

Last week, Memphis in May issued its report on the 2019 festival, citing a month-long economic impact of festival events totaling $149,112,480. MIM also cited tax revenues for the city at $4.6 million and an attendance of 107,153. Impressive stats, no doubt. Well done, Jim Holt and crew.

A couple days later, a group representing 70 Downtown businesses released a letter they had written to Strickland in June, citing their support for the MRPP redesign: “We believe a revitalized Riverfront, and in particular, the effort to build a bold new Tom Lee Park, is critical to maintaining and capitalizing on [the city’s economic] momentum, and we believe the time to make that happen is now.” Straightforward enough. A simple statement of support.

In response, Amy Howell, a spokesperson for a group called Get Our Riverfront Right and MIM, issued the following statement to the Daily Memphian: “While the taxpayer funded RDC/MRPP may not be competent is [sic] running our park system, they are good at PR and swaying public opinion to fit their agenda(s). Our group of volunteer tax paying citizens comprised of a diverse group of well intentioned Memphians have [sic] amassed almost 7,000 signatures against what RDC/MRPP has planned for Tom Lee Park as well as letters from the MRA and Hotel/Motel Association. We know there have [sic] been no operational strategy, budgeting and plan to maintain our park system.”

Grammar aside, the attacks on MRPP staff and their motives by Howell and various ad hoc social-media groups have often been clumsy and mean-spirited. And frankly, pointless. I have news for MIM and those who want Memphis to “leave Tom Lee alone.” Tom Lee Park is going to get a redesign, though it may be modified to some degree. Mediation is ongoing, though I don’t believe any decision will be made public until — wait for it — after the mayoral election. Rather than publicly assaulting the integrity of the other side (and dozens of Downtown business owners), it might behoove Howell and MIM to tone down the public rhetoric and continue to quietly work together to create a park that will accommodate the MIM events, even if it means some adjustments must be made.

In a world where the Amazon is burning and climate change is uppermost on the minds of serious world leaders, opposing the planting of trees and the installation of water features and a shelter in a treeless, blazing-hot public park is a bad look. Trashing the integrity of fellow Memphians who support creating a new riverfront is a bad look. Nobody wants Memphis in May to go away. The city welcomes the friendly May invasion of barbecuers and music lovers from around the world. But we also want to welcome tourists and locals to the river the rest of the year.

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News News Blog

Mayor: Memphis in May Will Return to Tom Lee Park Next Year

CREDIT: Chris McCoy

Chris McCoy

Sunset over Tom Lee Park

Memphis in May (MIM) will be held in Tom Lee Park next year and Riverside Drive will remain a four-lane street, according to Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.

Original plans had park renovations starting right after the festival concluded this year. The original construction timeline was 18 months. That, most likely, meant MIM would have been held in another location in 2020.

In the original plan from the Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP), Riverside would have been shrunk to two lanes. This, MRPP leaders said, would slow traffic on the street and provide more green space in the park.

In his weekly email to constituents, Strickland laid out a bullet-point list of facts on Tom Lee Park as “misinformation abounds in the public conversation around this issue, so allow me to set a few things straight today. 

“My vision is to craft a better Riverfront for all Memphians,” said Strickland, whose Riverfront Development Task Force was the catalyst for much of the change planned there. “That includes an improved Tom Lee Park and a better-than-ever Memphis in May.

“My commitment has been clear: a Tom Lee Park that will enable the Memphis in May International Festival to continue to thrive for decades to come and will better serve Memphians the other 11 months out of the year.”

Here’s Strickland’s list of facts about the riverfront:

• We’re currently mediating the future layout of Tom Lee Park — not whether Memphis in May will remain in Tom Lee Park.

[pullquote-2]

I’ve always been committed to Memphis in May in Tom Lee Park, and said so as recently as this space in May. The parties involved in crafting the future layout are Memphis in May, the Memphis River Parks Partnership, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and us (the city).

• Memphis in May will be held in Tom Lee Park in 2020. In 2021, it will be held at an alternate site to accommodate construction in the park. The festival will return to the park in 2022 and will be at home there for years to come.

• Riverside Drive will remain a four-lane street. We will incorporate speed-limiting designs in the final product, because we want the street to enable better access to the park.

Toby Sells

Tom Lee Park redesign.

• In addition to providing new amenities for citizens, the proposed renovations to Tom Lee Park will improve the infrastructure for Memphis in May.

• No city money from our general fund or capital improvement budget will be used — meaning that not a cent of this will impact service delivery like police and fire. Anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn’t understand or is trying to mislead you on purpose.

[pullquote-1]

The city is routing $10 million in sales taxes in the Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) that would otherwise have gone to the state of Tennessee. The remaining money for the park would come from Shelby County, the state of Tennessee, and private sources.

Strickland asked Memphians to “think of the vision.”

“When it’s done, we’ll have a world-class park that’s a front door for visitors and a back yard for Memphians,” he said. “Let’s not limit ourselves. We can have a Tom Lee Park that both enables Memphis in May to thrive and sparks more enjoyment for Memphians the other 11 months a year. It’s not an either-or.”

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News News Blog

Kayak, Paddle Board Rentals Coming to River Garden Park


Kayaks and stand-up paddle boards will be available to rent at the River Garden Park beginning Saturday, May 4th.

The Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP), in partnership with Kayak Memphis, is launching the rental program as a way to help Memphians connect with the river.

“Our job is to give as many Memphians as possible the opportunity to reconnect with their river,” George Abbott, director of external affairs for the MRPP. “Kayaking in the harbor or enjoying Mud Island Park is one of many ways that all can come to the river, celebrate 200 years of Memphis and look forward to what’s to come. Grab a friend and come to the river today!”

The equipment will be available to rent every day at the Fourth Cup coffee kiosk in the River Garden from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

MRPP

Kayak and paddle board rentals will be available at the River Garden Park near Mud Island.

Kayaks and paddle boards will cost $20 for the first hour. A two-person kayak will cost $30 an hour. For each option, every additional hour would be $10.

On opening day, rentals will be discounted at $20 per two hours. 

To help those unfamiliar with kayaking, MRPP and Kayak Memphis staff will offer a free kayaking orientation each Saturday in May at 2 p.m. The orientation will demonstrate the best practices for first-time kayakers.

Kayakers can paddle across the harbor to dock at Mud Island Park or travel north on the harbor for about three miles.

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Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

Memphis In May Scientist Warns Against Dinosaurs In Tom Lee Park

‘Artistic’ rendering of proposed changes to Tom Lee Park.

Dr. Ian Malcolm, Senior Chaos Theorist for Memphis In May, warned of grave danger to the public if a plan devised by the Memphis Riverfront Public Partnership (MRPP), to exhibit genetically engineered dinosaurs in a newly revamped Tom Lee Park, is allowed to go forward.

“Life will find a way,” the dashingly handsome, black-clad scientist told an enraptured crowd at a recent public forum on the proposed revamp of the city’s premiere riverfront acreage.  [pullquote-1]
MRPP was represented by Dr. Perceval Petrodopolos, a paleo-genetic engineer who said new advances in CRISPR technology has enabled him to reconstruct the genomes of dinosaur species that have been extinct for millions of years. The dinosaur DNA material was recovered from blood found in the stomachs of mosquitoes trapped in amber and spliced with that of dinosaur descendants such as frogs and birds. Plans and renderings unveiled by MRPP showed brontosaurus, tyrannosaurus rex, and velociraptors playing whimsically with school children among the rolling hills of Tom Lee Park.

“The lack of humility before nature that’s being displayed here staggers me,” said Dr. Malcolm, pounding the table. “Don’t you see the danger in what you’re doing here? Genetic power is the most awesome force mankind has ever seen, but you wield it like a kid who has found his dad’s gun!”

“I don’t think you’re giving us our due credit,” said Dr. Petrodopolos. “I have done something that has never been done before!”

“But you were so preoccupied with whether they could, you didn’t stop to think whether you should,” replied Malcolm. “Isn’t that right, Dr. P.P.?”

Dr. Malcolm described the prospect of revived, probably carnivorous thunder lizards  sharing a park with some of the top musical acts in the country and tens of thousands of revelers during the Beale Street Music Festival as “chilling. I simply cannot guarantee the safety of the food trucks and merchandise vendors in such a situation.”

Dr. P.P. was incredulous at what he called “Luddism from a scientist” and questioned why Memphis In May even needed a chaos theorist on staff.

Dr. Ian Malcolm

“Have you ever been to Music Fest?” replied Dr. Malcolm.

City officials are expected to rapidly approve the Jurassic improvements to Tom Lee Park, which will include pterodactyl roosts on the heavily populated bluff overlooking the riverfront.
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YES! This article is a parody. We said so in the tab up top!

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Down on the River, Winter is Coming

Winter is coming, my friends. Dark clouds are building in the western sky. Alliances are being formed. Treachery and connivance are afoot. The battle — soon to come — could be epic and bloody, a mortal combat to see who will control the kingdom of Tom Lee, a vast and glorious prairie on the banks of the majestic Mississippi River near Castle Memphis.

On one side is the Memphis River Parks Partnership (aka Mr. PP), led by Lady Coletta and her powerful allies, including the Great Lord of the House of Hyde, the Downtown Memphis Commission of Great Visions, and the mercenary knights of Studio Gang — brought in from the northern kingdom to wreak havoc on their sworn enemies: the House of MIM.

Studio Gang visual of the proposed water feature in Tom Lee Park.

The House of MIM (aka Memphis in May), led by Lord James Holt, is enjoined in this coming battle by the Sacred Alliance of Motels and Hotels, the Viscounts of Beale Street, the Barons of Barbecue, the House of Rock, and probably the Duke of Earl.

In coming days, there will be negotiations held in the chambers of the great High Castle on the Bluff, seeking to avoid bloodshed and form a truce, however uneasy. Emotions are high. Anything could happen. The fate of Tom Lee hangs in the balance, my friends. Thoughts and prayers …

For the record, the preceeding verbiage was satire. You know, what Webster’s calls “the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and criticize, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues.” We do that a lot at the Flyer, because, well, if not us, who else in town is going to provide the snark essential to the civic process? I mean, someone has to point out when the emperor is going commando, right?

I mention this, because a cartoon by our illustrator and master of visual snark, Greg Cravens, poked fun at the House of MIM a couple weeks back, and a few of their friends got upset. Some said the Flyer was “attacking” Memphis in May.

No. Believe me, if we attack you, you’ll know it. It was satire, the same kind of stuff we’ve thrown at MRPP on several occasions. I mean, our Chris Davis was the guy who dubbed them “Mr. PP” in the first place. We’ve also taken shots at Studio Gang’s idyllic bird-infested visuals and the new park signage that’s already been installed. It’s what we do.

But that’s different from our news coverage, which has highlighted the details of the MRPP design and MIM’s concerns with it. We’ve reported extensively and objectively on the battle for public opinion that’s ongoing between the two organizations. See Toby Sells’ story in this issue for another example.

That said, I’m excited and optimistic about MRPP’s overall plan for the riverfront, which includes renovations of all the city’s public lands along the river, and the linking of Greenbelt Park, Mud Island, the Fourth Bluff, Tom Lee Park, and MLK Park. It’s a big and ambitious design, and because of that, it has drawn fire from several sides.

But the central sticking point is Tom Lee Park, the 30-acre, mile-long, flat, open space now occupied by a few jogging paths and not much else. MRPP’s plan, as most people know by now, involves adding various elevations, a sheltered facility, a water feature, a wildlife habitat, and lots of trees. Memphis in May, understandably, likes the park the way it is, because a big field is much more conducive to its month-long event, which includes a music festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, both of which sprawl over most of the park. How’s that going to work with all those trees and other stuff, they ask. That’s the $70-million question, isn’t it?

We at the Flyer also support Memphis in May. It is a civic treasure that brings lots of people and money to town, and we believe all concerned should be able to figure out a way to keep the celebration Downtown and also reinvent the city’s riverfront. Tom Lee Park belongs to all of us, including those who use it the other 11 months of the year. Let’s get a deal done. May is coming.

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News News Blog

New Group Seeks to “Save Memphis in May”

CREDIT: SaveMIM.org

SaveMIM.org

A new website has emerged from a group that wants “to give a voice to Memphians who are concerned about rushing into” the redesign of Tom Lee Park and to “save” Memphis in May (MIM).

Memphis River Parks Partnership’s (MRPP) proposed redesign of the park has sparked concern among many, including MIM leadership, that the new park plan would negatively affect the month-long festival.

The new group identifies itself as SaveMIM.org. Who are they? They never really say.

“Let’s start with who we aren’t,” reads the description on the website. “We are not employed by or affiliated with the Memphis in May International Festival, the Memphis Tourism Board, or any other established civil entity.

“We are merely a few concerned Memphians who love the Memphis In May International Festival, and enjoy our waterfront.”

The site’s main function is to give its visitors an easy way to send Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and Memphis City Council members a form letter that says the sender is ”someone who is deeply concerned for the future of Tom Lee Park and the Memphis in May International Festival.”

That letter claims the new plan “looks beautiful” but it also lays out a raft of concerns about it.

Here’s a few of those concerns straight from the letter:

• Lack of a true dedicated logistics/emergency personnel artery

• Insufficient “alleyways” between barbecue booths for crowds, construction crews, and load-in

• Abundant grass-only high-traffic areas that will be reduced to impassable mud

• Insufficient space allocated for barbecue awards/judging infrastructure

• Will not accommodate existing crowds for music fest, or team booths for barbecue fest.

• Lack of long-term funding for maintenance and security/safety

The site also lays out a number of claims about the MRPP and its plan.

In a section called “capacity issues,” the SaveMIM group says “MRPP’s proposed MIM layout includes unrealistic numbers to hide its flaws.” On “logistical oversights,” the group claims “MRPP’s plan places a large number of booths facing narrow grass walkways that are not capable of supporting this traffic.”

In another action called “Safety Shouldn’t Be An Afterthought,” SaveMIM claims the MRPP “proposal lacks a defined security or maintenance plan.” The group further says MIM is a huge money-maker and the new design would hurt local businesses.

The group says the plan also excludes a “judging tent, festival operations, and a large stage for awards and entertainment like Ms. Piggy Idol and live concerts.” The group also says MRPP has raised only half of the money for the project and wonder if taxpayers will “be stuck with the tab for the balance.”

The site was apparently designed by a firm called Gravity Interactive Marketing and Social Media.

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News News Blog

Officials: Memphis in May Won’t Work at Other Downtown Sites

CREDIT: Bruce VanWyngarden

Bruce VanWyngarden

Tom Lee Park model at Beale Street Landing.

Memphis in May (MIM) officials say the six locations explored as an alternative sites for the festival next year won’t work and are calling for a phased construction schedule for the redesigned park to allow MIM to return to Tom Lee Park in 2020.

MIM officials said Thursday they were concerned the Memphis River Parks Partnership’s (MRPP) redesign of the park would cut the festival’s capacity. That redesign adds contours, trees, built facilities, and more to the now wide-open park.

MRPP officials want to begin construction of the new design in June, after MIM wrap-up this year. The construction would take 18 months. MRPP president Carol Coletta has said she’s not sure how MIM could operate in what would be a construction site. The suggestion has been to locate MIM to an alternative location for 2020.

The Downtown Memphis Commission (DMC) identified six sites that might work for MIM.

“We believe Memphis in May and Downtown Memphis are uniquely and inedibly joined,” reads the DMC document. “We believe Memphis in May belongs Downtown.”

In a DMC document shared to the press Friday, the DMC suggested Beale Street, Mud Island, Greenbelt Park, MLK Riverside Park, Georgia Avenue Elementary, and the grassy area north of Tom Lee Park at the corner of I-40 and Riverside Drive. (See our slideshow below for more details on the sites.)
[pullquote-1] “A cursory review of the sizes and infrastructure of the suggested sites reveals that these simply are not compatible to host our world-class events, and reaffirms our president and CEO Jim Holt’s assertion yesterday that — aside from Tom Lee Park — there are no other sites in Downtown Memphis that can accommodate Memphis in May,” MIM spokesman Robert Griffin said in a statement. “This is why we have requested a phased construction schedule to allow Memphis in May to remain in Tom Lee Park and downtown Memphis in 2020, as it is the only viable downtown location for our events.”

MIM and the MRPP are scheduled to have a meeting about Tom Lee Park on Monday.

[slideshow-1]

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News News Blog

Group Calls For Ambassadors to Promote, Support Riverfront

CREDIT: Facebook- MRPP

Facebook- MRPP

The River Garden at Mississippi River Park

The Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP) is looking for a group of Memphians to join a volunteer network supporting the transformation of the riverfront.

The group, deemed the Memphis River Parks Ambassadors will be tasked with volunteering at riverfront events and spreading the word about those events, according to the MRPP website: “As an Ambassador, you’ll be a part of making history by supporting the transformation for the riverfront.”

Acting as spokespeople for the riverfront, the ambassadors will also be responsible for advocating and developing more support for the riverfront, representing the riverfront at community events, and organizing events to raise funds for the riverfront.

In return, participants will get networking and educational opportunities with MRPP staff, first looks at plans for future riverfront developments, invitations to ambassador appreciation events, and exclusive Memphis River Parks swag.

MRPP will be accepting applications beginning December 11th through the end of the year. The organization says no qualifications are required “apart from a passion for the riverfront and a desire to move Memphis forward!”

Ambassadors will be chosen on January 4th, and the first meeting is slated for Wednesday, January 16th. Ambassadors will meet once a month through April.

Learn more about the MRPP and the areas it focuses on in the video below.

Group Calls For Ambassadors to Promote, Support Riverfront