Tag: mid-south fairgrounds

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Friends of the Fairgrounds Formed to Build Master Plan for the Site

CREDIT: Brandon Dill

New plans for the Mid-South Coliseum and the Memphis Fairgrounds are being drawn on what two community-led organizations believe is a blank slate for the shuttered building and largely vacant land in the center of Memphis.

When the Coliseum Coalition was created about a year ago, momentum to raze the building and build a huge youth sports complex on the 175-acre Fairgrounds site seemed unstoppable. Heavy equipment was set to roll on East Parkway as soon as Robert Lipscomb, then the city’s director of Housing and Community Development, got state approval for the site’s Tourism Development Zone (TDZ) status, the funding mechanism required to get started. The Coalition helped stall those plans with calls and events to get more community input on the project.

Brandon Dill

Friends of the Fairgrounds will build a master plan for the Coliseum.

Lipscomb is now out of the picture, following an alleged rape scandal. His boss, former mayor A C Wharton, is out of office. And the TDZ funding idea is seemingly off the table.

Marvin Stockwell, a founding member of the Coalition, has now founded Friends of the Fairgrounds (FOTF) to bring Memphis voices together and plan its future with the same grassroots style as the Coalition. He said it is undoubtedly a “new day for the Fairgrounds.”

“It’s always felt like there’s an overarching plan that we could only hope to alter a bit,” Stockwell said. “Now, it feels like there’s a blank slate. What’s it going to be? What would be best for Memphis?”

Stockwell said he wants the FOTF to engage people from neighborhoods around the Fairgrounds and build a master plan “that the entire city can buy into, that is just for Memphians.”

Mike McCarthy, president of the Coalition, considers that last sentiment to be a core statement for his group and for the new push on plans for the Coliseum and the Fairgrounds.

“Whatever happens [at the Fairgrounds and the Coliseum], it’s for us. It’s not like Graceland, which is for them,” McCarthy said, referring to tourists as “them.”

As for next steps, Coalition treasurer Roy Barnes said if Mayor Jim Strickland approves the idea, a team of volunteer architects and engineers are prepared to make a preliminary assessment of the building, which was shuttered in 2006.

Next, the Coalition would form a business plan for the Coliseum to show, possibly, the cost of its renovation and its day-to-day operation. Then, the group would commission an economic impact study of an open, operating Coliseum.

What exactly would operate inside the building remains a question, Barnes said. But he and McCarthy hoped the venue could once again host concerts, many of which are now hosted in venues in North Mississippi.

They hoped the building could be active even without concerts as a home to museums for, perhaps, Memphis wrestling, rhythm and blues, and University of Memphis sports, and as a large community center.

McCarthy maintains that preserving the Coliseum is about building on existing Memphis culture for current and future generations, not “recycling” it in new buildings with no history. Barnes said the Coalition is still fighting the idea that the building’s preservation is tied up with nostalgia.

“It’s a beautiful building,” Barnes said. “More than that, it’s a viable building in the center of Memphis.”

Memphis historian Jimmy Ogle will lead a walking tour around the Fairgrounds and Coliseum this Sunday at 2 p.m.

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Forum Opens Public Discussion Regarding Future of Fairgrounds

CREDIT: Alexandra Pusateri

Taylor Berger (left) and Kyle Veazey (right) opened the forum for discussion from speakers.

  • Alexandra Pusateri
  • Taylor Berger (left) and Kyle Veazey (right) opened the forum for discussion from speakers.

On a chilly Wednesday night, a mishmash of locals concerned about the future state of the old Fairgrounds property gathered in a Midtown theater. At the Circuit Playhouse, local entrepreneur Taylor Berger and his organization Make Memphis hosted a moderated forum of speakers to provide some public input into the potential of the old Fairgrounds and the Mid-South Coliseum redevelopment.

The forum, moderated by politics reporter Kyle Veazey of The Commercial Appeal, mostly focused on the Fairgrounds’ proposed $233 million redevelopment and the idea of turning that area of Midtown into a Tourism Development Zone (TDZ). By designating the three-mile area as such, the city can use the excess sales tax that would come from a revitalized Fairgrounds — and its surrounding areas, including Overton Square and Cooper Young — to pay off the $176 million public revenue bonds, over 30 years, that would be required to fund its redevelopment.

It was mentioned multiple times throughout the night that the city administration had been invited, but there was no appearance from anyone in city government in the audience except Wanda Halbert, the Memphis City councilmember who represents District 4 and the area that includes the Fairgrounds. Shelby County commissioners, on the other hand, were plenty.

In his designated few minutes, Shelby County Commissioner Steve Basar mentioned the interest of the bond that would occur over the time it takes to repay the loan, taking away $55 million away from the city during that time.

“[$233 million] is not the total tax dollars going into the project,” Basar said. “It doesn’t include the interest. So when you’re all done, you’re talking about a $300-million project plus. You’re tying up this revenue stream for 30 years.”

The current plans proposed for the old Fairgrounds would include an amateur sports complex, hotel, and retail space spanning over 400,000 square feet. Getting approval from the State Building Commission is the next step for the city to move forward on the project. 

“I’m here to support whatever it is you want to do,” said Reginald Milton, Shelby County commissioner. “If you don’t want to do this, that’s fine. If you do want to do it, that’s fine. I just don’t want us to be the ones to affect what you want out of this.”

Other county commissioners pledged to keep an eye on the project and listen to citizens speaking about the issue.

Non-elected officials also spoke at the forum, including Shawn Massey, who works with the Shopping Center Group.

“Midtown is under-retailed from a retailer’s perspective,” Massey said. “It’s a great community. It’s got lots of density, but there’s a lot of leakage. There’s a lot of Midtowners going and shopping in other parts of Memphis and not shopping at their home.”

Charles “Chooch” Pickard, an architect who is running for city council this year, asked if other ideas besides youth sports may be more viable for the old Fairgrounds.

“Wouldn’t a tourist destination based on music and sports history be a bigger draw?” Pickard said. “I’d rather we base the TDZ on authentic Memphis history tourism, of which there are still a lot of untapped options.”

Mike McCarthy, a proponent to save the Mid-South Coliseum, gathered over 3,000 signatures to save the building itself from demolition, surpassing the goal his group had set earlier in the month.

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Visiting Memphis in 1940? Then Use This Guide.

MemphisLandofCottonBooklet.jpg

Tourists visiting Memphis in 1940 probably picked up this brochure at local hotels, or maybe it was mailed to them by the Chamber of Commerce. It’s a handy guide to the main attractions in and around our city.

Some of today’s top draws aren’t listed of course, such as Graceland or The Dixon Gallery and Gardens or FedExForum.

But many of the “old classics” are there, including the Memphis Zoo, the Mississippi River, various parks, and other sights-to-see.

What’s interesting, at least to me though, are all the things listed in this 70-year-old brochure that have vanished. Among them: the Municipal Auditorium (“built at a cost of $2,000,000”) , the Cossitt Library, the Goodwyn Institute Library, Sienna College (when it was still on Vance), and the Fairgrounds Casino Ballroom (“dancing in season three nights a week”).

Then there’s the whole paragraph on downtown movie theaters: “There are 30 theaters in Memphis with a total seating capacity of 43,959. Modern community theaters with the very latest equipment may be found in the suburban communities of the city. A list of the downtown theaters”:
• Loew’s State (152 South Main)
• Orpheum Theater (197 South Main)
• Malco Palace Theater (81 Union Avenue)
• Strand Theater (138 South Main)
• Warner Theater (52 South Main).

Did you notice those names? The present-day Orpheum was called the Orpheum before it became the Malco. Boy, is that confusing! And, if this brochure is correct, Loew’s Palace (currently the site of Parking Can Be Fun) was originally called the Malco Palace.

continued …

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Fairgrounds Casino: The Showplace of the South

The Fairgrounds Casino in 1933

  • The Fairgrounds Casino in 1933

Years ago, Memphians didn’t have to drive all the way to Tunica to enjoy a grand casino. And when they paid their 40 cents admission to the sprawling wooden building on East Parkway, they were dazzled by the lights flashing from — no, not slot machines — a glittering crystal ball suspended over the largest dance floor in the city.

The Fairgrounds Casino was built by a fellow named Lynn Welcher in 1930 for $100,000 — an enormous sum in those days. The high cost came from innovative features like a teak and rosewood floor mounted on felt, which gave it the perfect “bounce” for dancing, and a remote-controlled $15,000 lighting system that flashed as many as 96 colored spotlights off the spinning ball. The lights were operated by a keyboard from the elevated orchestra stand.

Louis Armstrong, Kay Starr, the Alabama Crimsons, Ted Weems, and other big names performed here, which hosted public dances every Friday and Saturday night. The Casino thrived for two decades. In the 1950s, when big bands were losing their audiences, it was handed over to the Memphis Park Commission for just $12,000. The new manager, Dick Morton, began a new policy — no alcohol. “We believe there are lots of people of all ages,” he told the Memphis Press-Scimitar, “who don’t drink but do dance, and would love to have a place where they won’t be bumped around by a bunch of drunks.”

Although he didn’t mention the Lauderdales by name, we knew he was talking about our family.

People gradually lost interest in the old Casino; I don’t really know why. The music stopped, and the park commission turned the place into a public basketball arena. Finally, the fire marshall decided the ramshackle structure was a fire hazard. The Showplace of the South, as it was called, was torn down in the summer of 1963.

These vintage postcards (click on each image to enlarge it) show how the place looked in 1933, according to a date scribbled on the back of one of the cards. The hand-coloring on these things is rarely accurate, but gosh-a-mighty just look at that wonderful interior. Whoever called the Fairgrounds Casino “The South’s Most Beautiful Ballroom” may have been right.

And I wonder what happened to that giant crystal ball?

FairgroundsCasino1.jpg

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The Mid-South Fair Time Capsule — Missing!

Time Capsule Grave Today

  • Time Capsule “Grave” Today

Over the years, I’ve written about the unusual time capsule buried at the Mid-South Fairgrounds, close to the main entrance off East Parkway. I even mentioned it in a recent Flyer story called “Secrets of the City.”

Buried in 1956, the “capsule” was basically a large glass jar crammed with all sorts of things that fair officials thought Memphians of the future would enjoy when (or IF) they dug the thing up 100 years later — in 2056. I can’t remember the exact contents, though I’m sure it was all very interesting stufff.

But what really made this time capsule unusual was the fact that, according to newspaper accounts at the time, the jar was sealed with a “radioactive substance.”

Uh, oh.

Well, now my pal Angela Freeman Parks tells me that the time capsule has gone missing:
“Vance, THE TIME CAPSULE IS GONE!!! My husband just drove by the old fairgrounds … not only is the Pippin gone. But the time capsule buried on that site in 1956 and to be opened in 2056, containing a glimpse into the world from the opening of the fair in 1856 to 1956. All that remains is fresh concrete.”

Sure enough, as you can see from the photo I took of the area today, she’s right.

Hmmm, this just might be a problem. I don’t know who took it, or where it is right now. But I sure hope the culprits wore lead gloves and kept a geiger counter handy while they were doing it.

The picture below shows the nice monument that marked the spot until recently.

The same spot last year

  • The same spot last year
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“ALL OUT WHEN BELL RINGS” — Fairgrounds Pool

The Fairgrounds Pool

  • The Fairgrounds Pool

With all this talk about what to do with the site of the Mid-South Fairgrounds, we tend to forget that it was, at one time, THE place in Memphis to go swimming.

Sometime in the 1930s — I could look up the exact date, but I’m pretty comfy in my chair here, and the book is all the way across the room — city leaders built Memphis’ largest swimming pool. It was a huge, oval thing, surrounded by sand beaches. Maywood and Clearpool did the same thing. With sand, I mean.

On the west side was a low building (shown here) that housed showers, changing rooms, and showers. And across the front was a big sign, as you can plainly see, warning all swimmers “ALL OUT WHEN BELL RINGS.” In other words, get out of the pool when the lifeguard rings a bell — either to signify that somebody might be drowning, or your swimming day was coming to a close. I don’t recall what those tile-roofed buildings in the background were used for. I can only do so much, you know, and these days that’s really not much at all.

Notice the old-fashioned lightpoles around the pool. I wonder: was this place open at night?

And yes, as I sit here shivering in the drafty Lauderdale Mansion, I realize it’s not exactly the season for outdoor swimming, but I thought I’d share the old photo with you anyway. This place was known as the civic pool, and just like Rainbow Lake, Clearpool, and Maywood (and in more recent years, Adventure River), there’s not a trace of it. Despite our unbearable summers, Memphis, it seems, just can’t support a big outdoor swimming complex. It doesn’t make sense, does it?

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Memphis’ Trampoline Pits

3eae/1244474750-trampolinepits1961-2.jpg In the early 1960s, a new form of entertainment opened all across the country, and Memphis wasn’t immune to this crazy fad. Called “trampoline pits,” these were essentially big rubber trampolines stretched over rectangular holes in the ground. You paid a quarter (I seem to recall) and bounced and bounced for 10 minutes or so.

They were usually low-rent affairs, set up outside abandoned gas stations and drive-ins. At first, the trampolines were mounted on steel frames above the ground, but to avoid disasters the owners eventually placed the mats over shallow holes surrounded by sand, just like in the pictures here — so somebody wouldn’t bounce off the things and break their necks, you see. And that’s why they were called trampoline PITS.

Still, there were casualties. Kids would hop and leap and tumble and suddenly bounce off the side of the mat and land smack on their little heads. Schools across this great land were filled with poor little children, their faces battered black and blue, their heads swathed in thick bandages, groaning in agony as they shuffled down the hallway, dragging their broken legs behind them. You’d see them and think “Another senseless trampoline tragedy.”