CSNbbs

My wife was browsing her phone at lunch and made a comment about how "they" are considering moving the BBQ contest from TLP to .... West Memphis? WTH? What is this all about? It was a CA article maybe?

I heard it was gonna be at Tiger Lane next year.

What are they doing to TLP that would prevent the contest being held there anymore?

It's just one year while they do the 30 million redesign of the riverfront.

(05-19-2019 11:26 PM)Dak10 Wrote: [ -> ]It's just one year while they do the 30 million redesign of the riverfront.

They're gonna ruin Tom Lee Park as well as the MIM World Championship BBQ Contest & the Beale St. Music Fest ............ buncha freaking idiots

(05-20-2019 04:06 AM)Cletus Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-19-2019 11:26 PM)Dak10 Wrote: [ -> ]It's just one year while they do the 30 million redesign of the riverfront.

They're gonna ruin Tom Lee Park as well as the MIM World Championship BBQ Contest & the Beale St. Music Fest ............ buncha freaking idiots

Yes. See, this is what I came looking for. You seem to know what I'm talking about, so can you explain what they are going to do that will ruin everything.

(05-20-2019 12:57 PM)geosnooker2000 Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-20-2019 04:06 AM)Cletus Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-19-2019 11:26 PM)Dak10 Wrote: [ -> ]It's just one year while they do the 30 million redesign of the riverfront.

They're gonna ruin Tom Lee Park as well as the MIM World Championship BBQ Contest & the Beale St. Music Fest ............ buncha freaking idiots

Yes. See, this is what I came looking for. You seem to know what I'm talking about, so can you explain what they are going to do that will ruin everything.

It appears that the new landscaping of TLP will break up the flow of the park that allows straight line views north south and potentially block views from the street of the river.

There also seems to be a plan in which the park will be "sectioned" with trees and newly made hills and different terrain to give the appearance of many little parks instead of one large area.

The fear is that the "sectioning" of the park will greatly reduce the capacity to hold large scale events like Musicfest and BBQ.

Not saying it is wrong or right, but that is the concern.

http://studiogang.com/project/tom-lee-park

Model photo of the Riffle zone, where curving, intersecting paths and topography are anchored by a set of activity courts and threaded through with soft, shaded places to rest.

Architecture and landscape work closely together to make the park a welcoming, comfortable place for all Memphians and visitors, whether they’re taking part in outdoor activities or relaxing alongside the Mississippi. The park’s 30 acres are laid out as a series of four distinct zones—defined by topography, vegetation, pathways, and architecture—that flow together to support a range of active and passive uses. The landscape design of each zone is informed by different natural river formations or behaviors.

Throughout the park, regionally-specific plant species are selected to provide shade and beauty for people as well as habitat for wildlife. Hearty and well-adapted to life at the Mississippi’s edge, these trees, shrubs, and other plants make the park an ever-changing place that marks the passage of the seasons.

Thanks for the info. I can see the BBQ fest still being there, if on a slightly smaller scale. Musicfest is screwed by this plan.

(05-20-2019 01:05 PM)salukiblue Wrote: [ -> ]


Model photo of the Riffle zone, where curving, intersecting paths and topography are anchored by a set of activity courts and threaded through with soft, shaded places to rest.

Architecture and landscape work closely together to make the park a welcoming, comfortable place for all Memphians and visitors, whether they’re taking part in outdoor activities or relaxing alongside the Mississippi. The park’s 30 acres are laid out as a series of four distinct zones—defined by topography, vegetation, pathways, and architecture—that flow together to support a range of active and passive uses. The landscape design of each zone is informed by different natural river formations or behaviors.

Throughout the park, regionally-specific plant species are selected to provide shade and beauty for people as well as habitat for wildlife. Hearty and well-adapted to life at the Mississippi’s edge, these trees, shrubs, and other plants make the park an ever-changing place that marks the passage of the seasons.

So it's just another "River based theme" which has already been done at Mud Island.

How'd that end up? Nobody goes there any more. The Mud Island Arena is too small to compete for bands that would draw larger crowds.

Taxpayers helped foot the $43 million bill to build Beale Street Landing, how'd that end up?

It (typically Memphis) wasn't well thought out. No idea what a real Restaurant Kitchen needed to be able to be successful. Sewage, lack of access to natural gas, etc. Which are typical that a government entity expects everybody else to meet code standards except the government.

Now except for docking of passenger riverboats it's typically used for Wedding receptions & Birthday parties. Tax dollars shouldn't be used to construct a facility that competes with a private business.

Also during warmer weather it's swamped with swarms of mosquitoes.

Quote from the CA:

Quote:Ever since it opened in 2014, however, the landing has proved to be a difficult location for a restaurant, given its relative isolation from the rest of Downtown, lack of natural gas service and disruptions from the Memphis In May International Festival. After initially failing to attract a private operator for the eatery, RDC ran a bar and grill that lost nearly $90,000 during the 12 months that ended April 30, 2016, with deficits continuing after that.

A couple of years ago they spent hundred of thousands of tax dollars on Riverside Drive by eliminating two of the auto lanes & adding two bicycle lanes. All this did was create traffic jams & problems that started a lot of complaints. Less than a year later they ripped it all out & went back to two traffic lanes in each direction.

They also did this on Peabody Place between 3rd & Front St. & added large planters & Patio Furniture outside the buildings the Flying Saucer & the old Gayoso Hotel.
This created all kinds of traffic problems. A year later they ripped it all out & went back to two traffic lanes in each direction.

Quote:The State of Tennessee has awarded a $10M grant to Memphis River Parks Partnership to advance Memphis’ riverfront transformation and a new Tom Lee Park. The grant will support the construction of the redesigned Tom Lee Park set to begin in the fall joining the already-complete River Garden and River Line, as well as a fully-funded restoration of the historic cobblestone landing in a $70M campaign to transform the western gateway to Tennessee.

Follow the money. Federal dollars were used to build a garage attached to the FEF for use. Can you imagine that the City put John Ford in place to oversee the project?

Who's gonna be in a position to funnel tax $$$ to their cronies in this deal?

It happened with the Pyramid. It happened with the FEF. Now it's gonna occur with this project.

Just read the mistakes found in this State Audit where a complete floor was missing from the Parking Garage & Federal Dollars were misused.

Investigative audit of selected records of the Memphis
Intermodal Transit Facility

Quote:FBI TO REINVESTIGATE PARKING GARAGE DEAL IN MEMPHIS
March 26, 2009
Copyright 2009 MediaVentures

Memphis, Tenn. - They called it Garage-gate, a $20 million scandal that tainted construction of Memphis' shrine to NBA basketball, the FedExForum arena.

The scandal unraveled when state auditors said Memphis and Shelby County had misused a $20 million grant awarded to build the arena's parking garage.

Critics called it a massive fraud. Criminal investigations were launched, yet no charges were ever filed.

But now, five years after FedExForum opened and three years after the Garage-gate probe first made front-page news, FBI agents and state auditors are again asking questions.

In recent weeks attorneys for the city and county have been given lists of written questions from the state comptroller's office while others have received furtive visits by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's local field office.

The inquiries seem to have a common goal: To determine if anyone deliberately misled authorities who turned loose the $20 million in federal funds to build the garage. "I could go to my grave happy if somebody exposes this stuff," said former county commissioner John Willingham, who pushed for an investigation three years ago. Willingham said he was interviewed by the FBI as recently as June but hasn't been approached since.

One source who asked not to be identified said FBI agents asked last month about the site location of FedExForum as well as decisions that led to the $20 million grant awarded to build the arena's garage in 2002.

It was in October of that year that the city signed a grant agreement with the Tennessee Department of Transportation to accept $20 million in federal funds for the garage. The grant required the city to build a nonprofit "intermodal transfer facility" and public bus station at the garage to help reduce Downtown traffic congestion and promote mass transit.

The plan included a Memphis Area Transit Authority ticket station at the garage.

But there was a problem: A year earlier, the city and county had signed a contract with owners of the Memphis Grizzlies basketball team guaranteeing them all revenue from use of FedExForum and the garage, which was to be run as a for-profit operation.

When MATA officials tried to open the ticket station when the garage opened in 2004 they were turned away.

A subsequent TDOT audit of the grant spending led the state to recover $6.3 million, achieved by dropping funding for two city traffic-improvement projects. But that didn't end the controversy. Another state audit found the city had failed to adequately oversee construction of the garage.

"The city of Memphis entered into two agreements that were incompatible - each contract could not be fulfilled without potentially breaching the other," officials with the state comptroller's division of municipal audit wrote in 2007.

That audit report came at the request of Shelby County Dist. Atty. Bill Gibbons. Gibbons also asked the comptroller's division of state audit to review the state's oversight of federal funds used to build the garage - an audit that remains open.

Records of that audit probe show the Memphis City Attorney's Office received a list of written questions on Feb. 19. The questions were aimed at determining if the city had told the Federal Highway Administration about the 2001 operating agreement with the Grizzlies and whether highway administration officials were told the agreement might conflict with federal law. Another e-mail sent Feb. 24 by state auditor Jason Conner asks if city officials are familiar with a document believed to have been "prepared by someone in the City Attorney's office and subsequently provided to the FBI."

The document in question involved a timeline listing actions that led to the 2001 operating agreement and the subsequent $20 million grant contract with the state.

Arthur Hayes, director of the comptroller's state audit division, said last week he expects the audit to be issued in about a month. He declined to discuss specifics, citing the ongoing investigation.

Meantime, FBI agents also are asking new rounds of questions.

For months now, Herenton has been the focus of widely publicized FBI probes involving plans to move the Greyhound bus station out of Downtown and lavish parties paid for by prominent businessmen.

In June 2001, Frank Ricks of Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, Memphis Grizzlies owners and then-County Mayor Jim Rout favored a site on Union Avenue across from AutoZone Park. But Herenton and his special assistant, Pete Aviotti, fought that idea, preferring the current site of the arena.

By then, Herenton was heavily involved in relocating the nearby Greyhound bus station on Union to the airport area as part of an effort to redevelop the site.

At the time, Herenton said publicly that his interest in redeveloping the Greyhound property had no bearing on the arena location process.

Sources now say that Herenton secretly made more than $90,000 by obtaining and selling an option to purchase the Greyhound site - details that are the focus of an ongoing grand jury probe.

"Supporters of site A (the Union arena site) would say it complements the project we're talking about, makes it more viable," Herenton said in 2001.

"If I had a selfish interest, it would be that I would want the arena at site A, but that's not my primary interest when it comes to site selection." (Memphis Commercial Appeal)

MEMPHIS ARENA NEEDS HELP WITH DEBT
June 4, 2009
Copyright 2009 MediaVentures

Memphis, Tenn. - The Memphis and Shelby County Sports Authority is asking the city and county for up to $160 million in new debt so they can lower interest payments which have skyrocketed.

City and county taxpayers would contribute more if revenues dedicated to paying off the construction debt for FedExForum aren't enough to cover bond payments. Those revenue sources include sales tax on items sold at the arena, a "seat fee" charged on each ticket sold, car-rental taxes, city and county hotel taxes, and a contribution from Memphis Light, Gas and Water Division.

The authority originally sold $202 million in bonds to finance the arena which opened in 2004. In order to reduce payments, the agency refinanced some of its fixed-rate debt to variable-rate debt. The move cut interest from 5.25 percent to 4.25 percent.

However, as the economy imploded, the interest rates climbed to nine percent. The authority has been paying for the higher costs from reserve funds, but that cannot continue. It's hoping to refinance the debt with a fixed rate instrument.

.

Some politician is getting money under the table for this. There I said it

It's all BS. They hired Carol Coletta to come back from Chicago to totally screw up our park and funnel money to whoever has their hand in the pot this week.

It will RUIN the gorgeous sightlines of the river, the sweeping vista you see as you come down Riverside Drive, and make those condos on the bluff perching points for a constant circus.

It will destroy Music Fest and hurt the BBQ contest. Like what city turns' its back on its greatest asset when it invites the whole world to come and party the whole month of May?

Developers are buying up every square foot of land in this town for building, from our riverfront to house lots in East Memphis and everything in between. WHY? Thousands of Milennials are moving here, and they have very good jobs. HOW? Our Mayor and his cronies are as crooked at they come. We are now probably a more corrupt city than Chicago or New Orleans. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, follow the money. That is the only thing that makes sense about these hideous "developments."

Dayum ............... I knew i liked "21-17 Best Time I Ever Had"

I know it's scary when someone thinks remotely like I do .......

There’s a ton of outside money right now, but what do you do? I’m just trying to enjoy the positives. The jury is out on Tom Lee, but I’m opposed to anything that moves Memphis in May permanently.

Beale Street Landing has been very effective, even with the vacant or poorly implemented venue space. It has won a global design award, it has succeeded in attracting the tour cruises desired. If anything, it might be too small. But it makes sense to wait til there are more visits to make it larger. And the roof has been busy every weekend I have been in town with people exercising on the hill. Hopefully they find the right tenant for the space inside. I think recreational rentals and souvenirs would do well there.

On face value, I dislike the planned change at the park, however. I like what they did further north, and I am not opposed to spreading Memphis in May from Tom Lee, if it is an expansion, not a relocation. Also, it should be noted that local students were offered input opportunities -- although the effect/value/implementation of that input I have no idea-- and I generally like the intent of Smart City. However, I don't favor expanding concrete and pavement over grass. If you want to add rows of trees to delineate blocks of the park, that is fine, especially if the stages are consistent year to year, then maybe put trees there.

Hopefully, a balance can be reached, and everyone maintains their resilience.

Studio Gang wanted to move MIM to MLK. It's all in the documents. [1] That was the plan.

Why? I have no idea. I sure Studio Gang never talked to anyone from MIM. They would have told them no instantly.

That's why we have this problem. The RDC is either a bunch of morons, or they intended for this to happen. Not sure which one is better.

[1] - http://studiogang.com/project/memphis-ri...nt-concept

if they need more space in tom lee

just make it

80% of the park is man-made, sand pumped out of the river

(05-21-2019 07:05 PM)Unionman76 Wrote: [ -> ]if they need more space in tom lee

just make it

80% of the park is man-made, sand pumped out of the river

Sure, it is just that easy.

(05-21-2019 07:11 PM)kabluey Wrote: [ -> ]

(05-21-2019 07:05 PM)Unionman76 Wrote: [ -> ]if they need more space in tom lee

just make it

80% of the park is man-made, sand pumped out of the river

Sure, it is just that easy.

it is, i watched the corp of engineers do it

the south end of riverside use to flood when the river was up

"When the park was expanded from a four and half acre sliver to 25 acres in 1991"