A lake could be created next to the Snuff District and a floating entertainment dock could be headed to Cobblestone Landing, according to legislation proposed by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Memphis).
Cohen said he proposed the two “Memphis-centric projects” for the 2022 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) on behalf of the city of Memphis. These projects are part of riverfront improvements proposed by Mayor Jim Strickland in December.
Those plans would build two new riverboat docks on the Mississippi. But it would also create a two-million-square-foot lake for swimming, paddling, and fishing in the north end of Wolf River Harbor next to the burgeoning Snuff District in Uptown. It would also include a new “floating entertainment dock” at Cobblestone Landing.
A statement from his office Wednesday afternoon said the bill would allow “the Wolf River to create a lake adjacent to the historic downtown Snuff District,” done, apparently, by damming the Wolf River. It would also accommodate a floating entertainment dock at Cobblestone Landing.
“Both projects will transform our city and appeal to residents and tourists alike,” Cohen said in a Wednesday statement.
Details on the floating dock are scanty. Information from the bill says only the project is hoped to ”entice visitors and the Downtown workforce down to the harbor’s edge at Cobblestone Landing.”
To create the lake, labeled Sunset Lake in a city YouTube video, a dam would be built in the harbor a mile and half north of its entrance at the tip of Mud Island. The lake’s water elevation would be determined by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which, according to the bill, “have been supportive of the project concept.” The water quality of the lake would be “improved” to “allow enhanced recreational usages including kayaking, swimming, and fishing.”
“The new lake will allow visitors to have access to the riverine environment of the Mississippi River which is found in more remote reaches of the river but is available in Uptown/Downtown Memphis,” reads the bill material.
The bill says the lake would be sandwiched between the $62 million project to repurpose the snuff factory to the east (with 294 housing units and 10,000 square feet of retail space) and the hundreds of residents of Harbor Town on the west, ”who will benefit from access to such a great public amenity.” A “strong possibility” exists that visitors to the lake could access it by Downtown’s Big River Trail.
Strickland unveiled his riverfront proposals to the Memphis City Council in December. He mentioned them again in his State of the City address in January.
“We have a unique opportunity to expand Beale Street Landing and Greenbelt Park docks, as well as, create a lake and a series of additional docks and other improvements along the riverfront to increase economic development in the area and improve the quality of life for residents,” he said.
