“It is proposed to divert the channel at a point near Poplar, to fill the old channel, thus creating a very large area to be used for the purposes shown on this plan,” the Bartholomew report explained. The view here, taken from the firm’s 1955 plan, gives some idea of just how outstanding the plan was: a complete reconstruction of the southern end of Mud Island, with a riverfront expressway, harbor, playing fields, and even a riverside baseball stadium with parking for 5,000 cars. “The riverfront opposite the central business district offers a challenging opportunity to create an outstanding civic development,” they reminded us.
Harland Bartholomew & Associates tried again in the 1950s. “Today the riverfront is not only unattractive, but represents a flagrantly unprofitable use of the property.” “The chief criticism to be made of the riverfront from the standpoint of appearance is its disorder and general shabbiness,” Bartholomew reported in their initial plan. Bartholomew made detailed suggestions for building designs, street layouts, intersections, even public lighting fixtures, and paid special attention to the river. In 1920, the City Planning Commission asked Harland Bartholomew & Associates, a nationally recognized urban planning firm headquartered in St. Here we present pipe dreams for Memphis that turned into nothing but smoke. “I always thought these ideas were quite interesting,” he says, “and some of them, because of their lack of information, are really mysterious.” One example: A worn old black-and-white drawing showing a futuristic “space needle” and hotel complex erected on the South Bluffs - almost exactly where this magazine’s offices are located today - but with no other documentation to tell who, what, when, or why. Ed Frank, curator of Special Collections at the University of Memphis, keeps a manila folder in his department at the library, stuffed with old newspaper clippings, architects’ renderings, and photographs he encounters. These are just a few of the wild dreams and wacky schemes that developers and promoters have unveiled over the years for Memphis.
A soaring obelisk on the Mississippi River. A Teflon tent over the Mid-South Fairgrounds. This story originally appeared in our November 1993 issue.Ī heliport on Mud Island. Throughout our city's long history, it seems we can never quite decide what to do about our riverfront, and over the years we considered - and rejected - some very ambitious concepts for it, and other parts of our community as well. Editor’s Note: For almost two years now, urban planners and other city officials have presented various plans for dramatic changes to Tom Lee Park and Riverside Drive.
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