Tag: Memphis Zoo

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

Detention Deficit

CREDIT: Andrew J. Breig

Andrew J. Breig

Exactly seven years ago this week, I wrote a column decrying a proposal by city engineers to turn the Overton Park Greensward into an 18-foot-deep “detention basin” designed to stop flooding in Midtown. The engineers claimed we’d hardly notice the football-field-sized bowl. “Except,” I wrote then, “when it rains hard, at which time, users of Overton Park would probably notice a large, 18-foot-deep lake in the Greensward. Or afterward, a large, muddy, trash-filled depression.”

It was a horrible idea, and it was opposed by all the same groups that now oppose allowing the Memphis Zoo to take over half the Greensward for parking on “peak days.” The basin was debated for a while, but in June of that year was rejected in favor of finding another solution — which turned out to be building a parking garage in the new Overton Square development with a water-detention basin underneath.

Brilliant. Innovative. Win-win.

It was the second time in Memphis history that park activists had stopped the government from destroying the Greensward, the first time, of course, being when “little old ladies in tennis shoes” went to the Supreme Court to stop the construction of I-40 through the middle of Overton Park and Midtown in the late 1960s. Many contend, and I agree, that stopping that interstate from splitting the park — and the established old neighborhoods of the center city — made possible the housing and retail renaissance that is now happening. Oh, and, by the way, those activists also saved the Memphis Zoo.

Which makes the latest assault on the Greensward even more ironic. Had the very activists the zoo is now dismissing as self-interested dilettantes not stopped the detention basin, the zoo would have had to come up with another idea for parking by now.

By taking the backdoor action it took last week, the Memphis City Council showed it has little awareness of the park’s history and no sensitivity to residents who have waged a decades-long battle to preserve the city’s premier public space. The spectacle of wealthy white councilmen, most of whom belong to country clubs that are, shall we say, less than diverse, playing the race card is beyond hypocritical.

I take my dog to Overton Bark almost every weekend, and finding a place to park is always difficult. The playground, the dog park, and the Greensward draw large — and diverse — crowds. Toss in visitors to the Brooks Museum, students at the Memphis College of Art, and golfers, and you’ve got peak usage of public space. And when the increasingly popular Levitt Shell concerts happen, the parking problem extends into the evening hours.

Parking for Overton Park isn’t just a zoo problem. It’s a Memphis problem. And it’s only going to get worse as more and more people move back into the center city. Finding a solution will require cooperation from all park tenants and innovative thinking by our mayor and council, who need to put aside loyalties to their financial patrons and do the right thing for all of us.

Don’t make us put you in detention.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com

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News The Fly-By

OPC’s Tina Sullivan Discusses the Zoo Parking Controversy

Overton Park held the city spotlight again this week as the battle for the Greensward hit Memphis City Hall, a battle that could get national exposure as the park will soon be featured on a new, national PBS series called 10 Parks that Changed America.

In January, Mayor Jim Strickland requested the Overton Park Conservancy (OPC) and the Memphis Zoo enter into a mediation process to resolve the dispute about the zoo using the grassy area for overflow parking. Council members were to be updated Tuesday on the mediation process and to consider a resolution to give control of most of the Greensward to the zoo. That vote was scheduled after press time.

The Greensward parking issue boiled over in January as the zoo removed some trees in the area to make way for easier access to parking ahead of this spring’s opening of the zoo’s new Zambezi River Hippo Camp exhibit. That action sparked protests from citizens and a lawsuit from the zoo to establish its right to control the Greensward. OPC answered that suit with its own claim for Greensward rights.

Meanwhile, OPC conducted a traffic and parking study of the park, and its consultants issued options, ranging from new bike lanes to a new smartphone app, to alleviate pressure.

Expect the park to get more attention — with or without the continuing imbroglio — after it appears on 10 Parks that Changed America, scheduled to debut on WKNO on Tuesday, April 12th. We sat down with OPC executive director Tina Sullivan to discuss it all. — Toby Sells

Tina Sullivan

Flyer: What are your thoughts on Overton Park’s current controversy?

Tina Sullivan: This is an issue that’s been in the background for a while now, and what we really have here is an opportunity to get it right. If the park institutions and the community can unite around implementing some of the solutions identified through the planning process, we will be on our way to creating a great user experience for all our guests.

What solutions do you like?

We can easily do a much better job of coordinating communications among all of the park institutions, so that we’re pushing the same messages out about peak events. … We were very hopeful when we were discussing with the city parks division last summer about reconfiguring the zoo’s existing lot. … And, of course, improving park entrances and park roads for people on foot, on bicycles, or in wheelchairs will greatly enhance the visitor experience.

OPC recently filed information to the Shelby County Chancery Court that counters the zoo’s claim that it, not OPC, controls the Greensward. Do you think the new legal information will help your case?

We’re very confident that our management agreement is unambiguous, and the documents we’ve provided make our case clearly.

What makes the park significant enough to be included in the new PBS film?

The park’s prime location has made it a target for development through its entire history. It has been protected only through people standing up and asserting that green space, whether that be the Old Forest or the Greensward, has value to the community.

The national spotlight will soon be on Overton Park again. What story does our city want to tell? Do we want to invest in our treasured public assets? Or do we want to let them slide further into decline by implementing poorly planned, make-do solutions?

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Fly On The Wall Blog Opinion

The Best (Untapped) Parking Spots in Memphis

It’s time someone said it: The Memphis Zoo is the Kanye West of Memphis tourist attractions. The Zoo innovates. It may be controversial, but the Zoo doesn’t wait for progress to come to them. Where other institutions said, “You can’t park there because that is not a parking space,” the Memphis Zoo effectively said, “You can park anywhere you damn well please. You are a Zoo patron, and Zoo patrons make their own fates.” 

We hear you, Memphis Zoo. We have captured your innovative spirit and come up with a list of the other best (currently untapped) Memphis parking spots.

~ ~The Ultimate Best Undiscovered Parking Spots in Memphis~ ~ 

1. Elvis’s Grave at Graceland 

When are we all gonna wake up and smell the peanut butter banana honey bacon sandwiches? He’s been dead a long time. It’s high time we should be able to park on this sweet patch of land. 

Now: 

Better: 

2. The Lobby of the Peabody Hotel 

Ducks should be on a menu, not on a red carpet. What should be on a red carpet is a brand new SUV. 

Now: 

When things are right with the world: 

3. Inside the Orpheum Theater

This is a no-brainer. Downtown parking is packed. People sometimes have to walk blocks (whole blocks!) to their destination. The solution is clear. 

Current embarrassment: 

Future triumph: 

4. The FedExForum 

We grind hard. So why should we be forced to park in a neighboring garage? Why should we be made miserable, like people who don’t know our rights? 

Just look at this sad image: 

Now look at this happy one: 

Case closed. Park wild, Memphis. 

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News News Blog

Parking, Traffic Proposals Unveiled for Overton Park

CREDIT: Toby Sells

Toby Sells

Nearly 200 people gathered at First Baptist Church on Broad Avenue to hear proposals from consultant to help alleviate parking and traffic issues around Overton Park.

A smartphone app. Bike lanes. New bus routes. Pedestrian paths. A shuttle. And, yes, perhaps a parking garage for the Memphis Zoo.

These were just some of the proposals to help alleviate persistent traffic and parking problems in and around Overton Park that were unveiled Thursday evening to a large crowd at First Baptist Church Broad Avenue.

Last month, the Overton Park Conservancy picked Looney Ricks Kiss (LRK), Alta Planning + Design, and Kimley-Horn and Associates to study problems at the park and to come up with possible solutions. Team leaders said their ideas constitute a menu of choices to be picked from in the future to ease traffic and parking woes.

Steve Auterman, a senior associate at LRK, kicked off the hour-long presentation by acknowledging that the main issue (the one that likely drew the most people to the meeting) was parking on the Greensward.

“We feel confident that we can diminish or eliminate this conflict,” Auterman said. “There is not one answer. It will take multiple solutions and it’ll take time. But there are plenty of opportunities to address the situation to everyone’s satisfaction.”

Auterman and his team also laid the blame for the tense parking situation in the park at the front door of Memphis City Hall. A slide in his presentation said the “city is responsible for parking at Overton Park, not the Overton Park Conservancy nor the Memphis Zoo.” The city has  “deferred an acceptable solution” on parking there for more than two decades, read the slide. Through this, the city has created the parking problems and the tensions that exists at Overton Park today, according to the presentation. 

Here are some of the ideas from the team:

• Some of the parking solutions could be resolved through better communications with park patrons. A smartphone app could be developed to tell patrons where to park and even reserve parking within the park, much like the one that exists for FedEx Forum visitors now.

• Also, park attractions could have different pricing on different days to incentivize patrons to visit attractions on off-peak days.

• Bike lanes could better connect patrons to the park and lead them through it, thus reducing the amount of cars needed to be parked.

• Pedestrian access could be increased, reducing the amount of cars.

• Access points for mass transit could be improved to encourage patrons to take a bus to the park.

• A dedicated shuttle could run from the Overton Square parking garage to the park.

• Surface lots could be added in strategic places to add more spaces.

• Parking on the zoo’s main lot could be reconfigured to get additional parking spaces.

• Reinforce the Greensward with Grasscrete, a concrete structure that allows grass to grow through it.

This suggestion brought a chorus of complaint from the crowd, one of the only times the meeting ever became unruly.

• Build a parking garage somewhere on the existing zoo property.

This suggestion brought a smattering of applause from the crow. Still, Auterman warned the crowd that these structures are expensive and may not be palatable to neighbors around the zoo. Also, he said, the garage – if it were built – will be nice.

“If we do a parking a garage, it has to be a great experience,” Auterman said, pointing to the new garage at Memphis International Airport as an example. “If we’re going to do something, let’s do it right. This is a landscape that deserves it. It should be of a high standard befitting a civic treasure.”

The OPC will send out a new survey with some of these options to its members to begin the process of deciding what solution could emerge as a real, viable option.

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Elephants, Newhart, and Powder Cake!

“Nobody remembers who won second place.” — Walter Hagen

That tweet came from Donald Trump a few weeks back. It returned to haunt him Monday night, when The Donald came in second to Ted Cruz in the Iowa caucuses. And once again, America was left asking the question: Why do we start this whole process in Iowa? A white, rural, fundamentalist state that was won by Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum in the previous two election cycles? It makes no sense.

But it was a weird week for everybody: An internet argument raged for days between Atlanta rapper B.o.B. and scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson over whether the earth is flat. Seriously. Apparently, the flat-earth movement is not dead, and B.o.B. isn’t buying this “the earth is round” nonsense. Actually, I suspect that if the GOP presidential candidates learned that a significant number of potential voters were flat-earthers, they’d whip out their “I’m not a scientist” line when confronted with the question.

Speaking of questionable science … Trump did the near-impossible and turned Fox News’ Megyn Kelly into a paragon of tough-minded journalism by skipping the most recent GOP debate, in which we learned that no matter the question, the answer is always: Get rid of Obamacare, kill ISIS, stop immigration, and Hillary Clinton will be a horrible president.

For example, when asked a question about Kim Davis, Chris Christie went full-9/11 and then promised he would destroy ISIS. To prevent gay marriage, I suppose? I don’t know.

We learned that soon-to-be-former-candidate Ben Carson can memorize the opening lines of the Constitution and that he stacks words like Jenga sticks. My favorite quote: “Putin is a one-horse country.”

Ted Cruz tried to make a joke about Trump, but it fell flat, and Bette Midler tweeted that he couldn’t improvise a fart at a baked bean dinner. Which was much funnier than Ted’s line. Also, Ted likes mandates. A lot.

John Kasich tried hard to bring some sense to the occasion, but he will likely soon return to his role as the other brother Daryll on Newhart.

Oh yeah, Facebook deaths this week included Joe Cocker (again), Pete Seeger (again), and Yanni, who is still alive, to the disappointment of many.

In local news, it was the week that the Grizzlies found themselves and the Tigers stayed lost. Overton Park advocates and the Memphis Zoo remained entangled in a battle over the Greensward parking issue, with the zoo showing all the grace of a tranquilized elephant running the high hurdles. Or Jeb Bush in a debate. Your call.

And Flyer reporter Toby Sells broke the story that District Attorney Amy Weirich and her assistant Stephen Jones were being hit with a censure by the Tennessee Supreme Court’s Board of Professional Responsibility for their actions in the trial of Noura Jackson. This led to an epic comment battle on the Flyer website, with one fellow suggesting that the DA’s office was a “powder cake” ready to implode.

Which reminds me of the time a Flyer intern once wrote, “It’s a doggy dog world out there.”

And indeed it is.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Memphis Zoo President Talks Parking and Public Perception

Equal access to Overton Park is at the heart of the Greensward argument for Chuck Brady, president and CEO of the Memphis Zoo.

Zoo visitors come from “every part of the city,” and without Greensward parking, they’ll be turned away, he said. Overton Park is not a neighborhood park for a few but a community park for all, which is basically how Brady justified the Zoo’s decision earlier this month to remove some trees that had been planted on the Greensward by the Overton Park Conservancy.

The Zoo does have authority over one-third of the Greensward, according to a legal opinion by Memphis City Council attorney Allan Wade. Brady said he hopes this will be made clear with a judge’s order, which is why Brady said he and the Zoo’s board filed their lawsuit last week. — Toby Sells

Chuck Brady

Flyer: So you felt that Wade’s opinion gave the Zoo the right to take those trees?

Chuck Brady: It gave us management authority on that area, which we’ve always had.

To a lot of folks, it looks like the Zoo was just a bully and did this without anyone’s permission.

That’s the same way the trees went in. I think more importantly, you have to understand, that area is the only parking area for about 75,000 people per year. That’s a big number. Those are citizens, too. But you have a small group that is saying, no, we don’t want them. Everyone can call the other side a bully. But there are two sides to every story.

Another criticism I’ve heard about the Zoo and its future plans is that if you knew that the Zambezi River Hippo Camp was going to bring in 15 percent more visitors, why didn’t you plan on constructing 15 percent more parking?

We [already] have parking that’s adequate. What the push is, is to take some of that parking away.

You’ve said there was misleading information in the news and social media. Is there anything you want to set straight?

One of the things I saw, I think Jessica Buttermore [chair of Citizens to Preserve Overton Park] wrote a letter to the editor saying that I said that the Zoo makes a $1 million on overflow parking in Overton Park. That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. We make maybe $25,000.

Do you think the Zoo is a good Overton Park neighbor?

Are we a good park neighbor in the sense that we clean up when people park in the neighborhoods? We send crews out to clean up any litter every time. We’ve used the Greensward for almost 30 years. It’s virtually the same as it was 30 years ago. We aerate it. We clean it. I think we’re a good neighbor, but I think you’ll find a lot of different opinions on that.

I was going to show you one last thing. (Brady is shown a Facebook photo in which someone has cut their Zoo membership card in half with the caption: Fire Chuck Brady).

There are as many — and probably more — responses to us that say, good, we need the parking, and the Zoo is a vital part of this community. We get far more of them than we get of those. It’s very vocal, but it’s not the principal sentiment around Memphis. We have 27,000 members. By and large, they want what is right for the Zoo and the city, and they want equal access for all people. Nobody wants Overton Park to be a park for a few people.

Check out the full interview with Brady on MemphisFlyer.com. Brady talks about how the parking problem was created and why a parking garage is not the solution.

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News The Fly-By

Fight Between Overton Park Advocates and Memphis Zoo Heats Up

CREDIT: Toby Sells

The cold war between Memphis Zoo officials and Overton Park advocates sparked last week, igniting a blaze that roared all over social media and culminated in a Saturday protest even as Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland called for calm.

The Zoo uses the park’s Greensward, a large field next to Rainbow Lake, for overflow parking about 65 days a year. A group called Get Off Our Lawn (GOOL) called for the practice to end when they formed in 2014 and staged a number of sit-in style protests on the Greensward.

The latest episode began as Overton Park Conservancy (OPC) officials discovered last Monday that 27 trees had been removed from a strip of land on the park’s Greensward that borders the Zoo parking lot. They called the Memphis Police Department and later found out that the Zoo removed the trees to make way for more parking on the Greensward ahead of the opening of the Zambezi River Hippo Camp this year.

Toby Sells

Get Off Our Lawn plants new trees at Overton Park.

Toby Sells

OPC Director Tina Sullivan called this move “completely unacceptable.” GOOL renewed its pledge to end Greensward parking. They held a protest, which involved a tree planting, at the park on Saturday.

Through it all, Zoo officials maintained they had solid legal footing for the removal, thanks to an opinion city attorney Allan Wade issued on New Year’s Eve. Wade said the Zoo does, indeed, control the northern parcel of the Greensward that it uses for overflow parking.

“This action was not illegal in any way, as the property is ours to maintain as upheld by the recently released legal opinion from the city of Memphis,” Zoo officials said in a statement on Facebook late last week.

However, Strickland said Wade’s opinion doesn’t speak for his administration. He’s given park and Zoo leaders two months to figure out a parking plan, or Strickland has said he’ll devise and implement one on his own. In the meantime, Strickland urged calm.

“We’ve asked both parties not to take any actions that would inflame the situation,” Doug McGowen, the city’s chief operating officer, said in a statement. “Both have agreed to do that. We know this won’t be fixed overnight. We ask that the community give us the time to reach a solution that works for everyone — most importantly, the people who use the park and the Zoo.”

Zoo board members apparently approved a the commencement of a lawsuit over the weekend to determine if the Zoo does, indeed, have legal authority over the portion of the Greensward it uses for overflow parking.

Sullivan, director of the OPC, said last week her office was close to hiring a consultant to conduct a parking and traffic study for Overton Park.

“We are confident that several immediate, achievable, and affordable alternatives to Greensward parking already exist,” Sullivan said. “These alternatives will be thoroughly explored, vetted, and refined over the coming months in an open and transparent process that engages all park stakeholders.”

The Zoo reiterated past positions that the Greensward is only used 65 days a year and that the Zoo is the top tourist attraction in the Memphis region. Restricting parking, it has said, will deter visitors.

“We never want to restrict access to our Zoo, and thus, will do whatever we can to ensure that all Zoo-managed property [which they believe includes the Greensward] is accessible and well-maintained throughout the process,” the Zoo statement read.

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Opinion The Last Word

Zoo Blues

CREDIT: Clewisleake | Dreamstime.com

Clewisleake | Dreamstime.com

The last time I visited the Memphis Zoo was the first “Fake Spring” day of 2015. Fake Spring is the term I use for those late-winter, 70-degree teases everyone savors because they signal the impending change of seasons, though there’s also a 50/50 chance an ice-nado or some other freakish weather event is about to roll through town within a few days.

It was a Sunday afternoon. My friend and I weren’t the only ones eager to get outside for a glimpse at the majestic animal kingdom in our own backyards, as we were joined by practically every family in the tri-state area.

After I paid my five bucks and circled the lot a few times, I wound up having to park on the grass. My friend, who is not from the area, couldn’t believe cars were allowed to park there.

“This is not ideal,” I thought. The ground was still squishy from a recent rain. I hated to think of what the vehicles were doing to the grass and soil, and my hatchback isn’t exactly built for off-roading.

Had I known, I probably would have found a free spot on the street and walked the extra distance. The mosquitoes weren’t out yet, and I have two working legs.

Until last week, “this is not ideal” was about as strong as my opinion ever got on the matter of the parking situation at the Zoo. I saw room for compromise. “We’re so popular, no one can find a parking space” seems like a good problem to have, one that all parties involved should, ideally, be eager to solve together. I read a handful of options for a permanent solution, and I assumed we citizens could sit back and watch the two sides work it out for the sake of the community.

How, after 25 years of living in Memphis, could I be so naïve? Working out a reasonable solution that benefits everyone — that’s crazy talk. When has it ever been that simple?

The latest battle in the war over the Overton Park Greensward (“Treegate,” if you must) is too petty to ignore. Did anyone at the Memphis Zoo envision a scenario in which cutting down — excuse me, removing — 27 trees would result in anything other than a public relations imbroglio? Who signed off on that? Did they think no one would notice? And then, to double down by accusing the conservancy of maliciously planting the trees? Surely at this point the intention must be to alienate the entire city. It’s the only possible explanation. That’s one way to eliminate the need for overflow parking, I suppose.

I understand the challenge the Zoo is facing. They’re trying to get people through the gates. They keep renovating, hosting events, and adding exhibits and attractions to provide us a reason to come back, and it’s working. The facilities have come a long way since my elementary school field trips. Ya Ya’s fertility struggles aside, the Memphis Zoo has the distinction of housing one-sixth of the United States’ giant panda population. The Teton Trek exhibit is magnificent. The polar bears are super cool (har, har). Success hasn’t come without cost, though.

Parking wasn’t as much of a concern in 1906, when the Overton Park Zoo was founded, but now the Zoo is literally backed into a corner. And 45 years after citizens fought to keep I-40 out of the heart of the city, Overton Park is still fighting to keep the cars out.

It may no longer be in the name, but the Memphis Zoo is a part of Overton Park, for better or worse. Trees are not a “nuisance to patrons.” They’re a feature of parks, in case our friends at the Zoo forgot that “park” is not short for “parking lot.” Removing trees and destroying grass are actions that aren’t just un-neighborly — they’re incompatible with the mission of conservation, whether the space in question is used 60 days a year or 365.

Overton Park and the Memphis Zoo share a common goal of bringing joy to local families. It’s time to remember that and start acting like adults.

Jen Clarke is an unapologetic Memphian and digital marketing strategist.

Categories
News News Blog

VIDEO: Protestors Plant Trees on Greensward

VIDEO: Protestors Plant Trees on Greensward

Dozens of protestors took to the Greensward at Overton Park for a second line to eulogize 27 trees that were removed by the zoo last week and to plant three trees to show they want parking on the Greensward to end.

The event was organized by Greensward advocacy group Get Off Our Lawn.

The Might Souls Brass Band led the protestors from Veterans Plaza to an area about 100 yards away where shallow indentations in the ground showed where the trees were removed.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Memphis Zoo Wraps Up 20-Year Master Plan

The Memphis Zoo will be entering a new era after the completion of its new hippopotamus exhibit, which is set to open in March 2016.

The exhibit is the last major project in the Zoo’s 20-year master plan. The Zoo has been redeveloping old exhibits and creating new ones since the late 1980s.

The Zambezi River Hippo Camp will not only provide a new home for the hippos, it will also showcase flamingos, crocodiles, and free-flying birds. The camp’s name comes from the Zambezi River, the fourth-longest river in Africa. The exhibit is modeled after a South African fishing village with a coffee plantation.

The Zoo’s overall master plan mostly focuses on large-scale immersion exhibits, which is the trend in zoos across the country. Newer exhibits, such as the China exhibit, Teton Trek, Northwest Passage, and the upcoming Zambezi River Hippo Camp are examples of immersion exhibits, which focus on the animals of specific regions.

Immersion exhibits transport the visitor to the animals’ natural habitat and provide interaction with the visitor, and the Memphis Zoo’s expansions have reflected this, according to Chuck Brady, CEO and president of the Memphis Zoo.

is still under construction.

“It’s much more engaging and immersive for the visitor to not only see the animals in nice, pleasant environments but also to get the feel like you’re walking down the Zambezi River or walking through Teton Park,” Brady said. “It’s a good theme, and we’re going to continue it.”

The Zoo also plans to install “beacons” in the future for their smartphone app, where visitors will receive educational notifications on their phones based on where they are in the park.

The Zoo’s history with Overton Park has been met with opposition when expanding. When Tetron Trek was being built in 2008, Citizens to Preserve Overton Park opposed the exhibit due to the removal of four acres of the Old Forest within the borders of the Zoo. A raised boardwalk is supposed to protect the natural flora of the ground.

The master plan also includes the smaller project, Chickasaw Bluffs trails, which aims to be low-impact on the Old Forest Arboretum of Overton Park inside the Zoo. The idea is to allow visitors to learn more about the natural culture of the Old Forest, but activists have opposed the idea of charging admission through the Zoo to walk the trails of the natural area.

Parking, a more recent point of contention with activists for Overton Park, was not included in the master plan. Over the past couple of years, activists from a group called Get Off Our Lawn have staged protests over the Zoo allowing its patrons to park on the Greensward at Overton Park. A plan to reconfigure the Zoo’s parking lot to handle more cars was dropped last month due to higher-than-expected costs. Solutions for Zoo parking have gone back to the drawing board.

A new 10-year master plan is currently in development and should be finished in about a year and a half.

For more information on the new Zambezi River Hippo Camp, check out The Memphis Flyer News Blog for an in-depth look and a slideshow.