full article: Special to The Commercial Appeal Robert Lipscomb, Memphis city government’s director of housing and community development, envisions a redevelopment plan for the fairgrounds which he says will attract tourists by knocking down the one structure that tourists and locals want to see come alive again: the historic Mid-South Coliseum. Granted, the coliseum has its challenges, but no one I’ve talked to — whether in Cooper-Young, Europe or Japan — wants to visit the new Tourism Development Zone Lipscomb hopes to establish around the fairgrounds if there is nothing historic for the tourists to see. The coliseum is one of a kind. It cannot be replaced. And when it is gone, we will have destroyed another historic building that gives Memphis, Tennessee, its sense of place. When that is gone, urban blight and crime will follow. As was done in Indianapolis with great civic success, let’s instead make reinvigorating the Mid-South Coliseum a long-term goal with a pay-off that speaks to real tourism. More than 1,600 people so far have signed an online petition (thepetitionsite/takeaction/894/829/288/) to keep and restore the historic coliseum and to stop creation of the Mid-South Fairgrounds Tourism Development Zone as it is currently proposed — a plan that aims to help finance the fairgrounds redevelopment by demanding sales tax money from other popular districts where people gather in Midtown. I ask for a simple truce so that Lipscomb, Mayor A C Wharton and the unnamed developer of the fairgrounds project can consider just a few ideas that address the inside (and outside) of a repurposed Mid-South Coliseum and how the building’s preservation could help drive tourism to the new fairgrounds: 1) Half of the interior of the coliseum could be converted to host smaller events, including high school graduations, city government events or any concerts that we now lose to Southaven or Tunica. The FedExForum contract’s noncompete clause states that venue seating under 5,000 is permissible. So let’s re-outfit to 4,999 seats. 2) A “build-out” of the inner space could provide a multiuse sportsplex for simultaneous events such as basketball, roller derby, ice hockey and a much-needed Midtown bowling alley, to name a few. 3) Let’s take that spacious circular hallway that wraps around the coliseum and call it a “satellite for sales” — a “tourism central” that would enthrall visitors not just with a history of the Mid-South Coliseum but also with the histories of Cooper-Young, Ellis Auditorium and professional wrestling in Memphis (to rival Tunica’s Jerry Lawler museum). Exhibits could explore Memphis record labels, civil rights history (the Mid-South Coliseum was the first publicly integrated public building in Memphis) and the 1973 Memphis State Tigers. The space could be used as well for overflow exhibits from the Pink Palace, the Stax Museum of American Soul Music or the Rock ’n’ Soul Museum. We could take the historic WHBQ radio room scavenged from the Chisca Hotel and rebuild it in this hub for the world to see. With help from an aviation sponsor, the Memphis Belle might even be returned here from Ohio and placed on display. Learning about the history of Memphis in a building where much of the history happened (and continues to happen) would be a truly unique experience that would garner worldwide attention. 4) Most important, any new retail businesses inside the repurposed coliseum should complement (not compete with) businesses in Cooper-Young. 5) Space outside the coliseum could provide parking for visitors to the Cooper-Young retail and entertainment district. A simple direct trolley line could connect the coliseum’s parking area with the intersection of Cooper Street and Young Avenue, as it did in the early 20th century, and carry riders to and from their vehicles. An indoor parking area with the feel of a train station could be constructed near the coliseum for added safety. I hope Lipscomb, Wharton and the fairgrounds developer will feel free to customize these ideas and make them their own. In return, I can promise that we in Cooper-Young, Belt Line, Orange Mound and Overton Square (and others in an entire world of tourism that loves Memphis) will do everything in our power as a community to make sure the redevelopment plan succeeds. But above all, let’s maintain the Mid-Century Modern architecture of the coliseum that opened its doors in 1964 — during the “American Century” — in the city that gave the world rock and roll. To the politicians and the developers who may still be agonizing over the cost of handicapped access to the coliseum or the lack of bank loans for repurposing old buildings, I say: How much money do you need to make? Is there no nonprofit organization or grant source that can soften your expense? Can’t a portion of the taxes from historic neighborhoods go toward the repurposing of the Mid-South Coliseum? I will volunteer my time to help in this project, as will countless others. Please find it in yourself to do something that will last beyond your own lives and will positively affect the lives of people that you will never meet. And to Lipscomb, I say: We do not want to stop your plans. We want to make them better. Mike McCarthy is a filmmaker, tour guide, preservationist and longtime resident of Memphis.
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 20:36:24 +0000
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