Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Fairgrounds Gets Quick Action
Posted by John Branston on Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 5:31 PM
The Public Green Space Project, as it is called, will cost about $10 million to design and build and will be completed in two stages. The first stage is scheduled to be finished by September, and the second stage a year later. It consists of 15 acres of "irrigated turf grass" suitable for tailgating on game days and general use on other days. A rendering of the project shows a fountain in the middle of it.
The council unanimously approved the project. The cost of the design is $606,210. Former City Council member Tom Marshall's architectural firm will design the Green Space Project. Funds for the $4.75 million first-phase of construction would be redirected from two maintenance building projects, Liberty Bowl locker room improvements that are being put off, and $255,000 in federal funds. The council must still approve that expenditure.
The demolition of some of the former Mid-South Fair buildings will create more parking, bringing the total number of spots to 7,550, with an additional 1,800 spaces on the former Libertyland site available if needed, although that area has mature trees and is envisioned as a park and picnic area. Two old buildings will remain standing — the Pipkin and Creative Arts Building — for use during football games and for roller derby teams that currently use another building.
Representatives of the big three of Memphis football — the University of Memphis, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and the Southern Heritage Classic — supported the resolutions, as did FedEx executives Fred Smith and Alan Graf. City Councilman Reid Hedgepeth, who steered the resolutions to passage, said they will make the fairgrounds more attractive for future commercial development.
The exterior of the stadium has been shabby for years, and the demolitions and green space should be welcome improvements as the University of Memphis tries to raise its football profile. But they could mean the end of developer Henry Turley's ambitious plans for Fair Ground, a youth sportsplex with retail stores and lodging in a Tourism Development Zone, although Hedgepeth and Housing and Community Development Director Robert Lipscomb said that the developer and long-range future of the fairgrounds are still open questions. But Tuesday's action, coupled with the groundbreaking for the Kroc Center on East Parkway, locks up another key piece of real estate and stresses the priority of parking for eight football games each year plus a few days of related events.
To do a master plan would mean creating a special authority, taking away parking, demolishing the coliseum, and reconfiguring the land to be used for the Green Space Project west of the stadium. Parking and tailgating space is particularly important to football promoter Fred Jones of the Southern Heritage Classic, which matches Jackson State and Tennessee State University. Eliminating a few hundred existing parking spots drew criticism from Jones and prompted some quick changes in the plans.
Comments (23)
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Urbanut: I would love to see more open air markets in midtown! How wonderful would it be to have a farmers market and festivals, not just the flea market.
Yes, paving paradise and putting up a parking lot -- oops I mean Astroturf -- is behind the times. Our Community Garden group just got a beautiful lot donated from the City next to the Convention Center within walking distance of the Farmer's Market.
DP-I think the community garden is awesome and I am really glad your group got it built. I think the difference here is that there is no pressure for a thousand alumni to use your community garden as a tailgating spot for 10 days spread from August- January.
Astroturf? Where does the story say Astroturf? That's not the same thing as "irrigated turf grass." Isn't turfgrass real grass?
What kind of shape is the coliseum in? If it's not all falling down and asbestos ridden inside, I move we let the Roller Derby use it, and in the off-season, start a Memphis Curling League (if the ice-maker is still working).
g r e e n ?! *gulp* why not a multi.level parking garage- this would free uP space for actual green areas- uPon which we could have a farmers market -as well as a community garden (think big like every block in san diego) as well as a dog park (think chicago) -- and what happened to the original tentative plan for a sports complex- with baseball fields and a bball court- and so on and so forth-- im beyond disappointed with the men in high places and those working for them- where is their vision? turley- fight this! i beg of you-- you can do it- there is help- the communities of c-y and orange mound would rally behind you- help us help our city!
Is turf grass real? I am asking bec. it was in quotation marks, and had been mentioned as synthetic in earlier reports.
San Francisco had a similar debate and chose to keep natural grass as a playing surface for city fields. Candle stick park went back to real grass after having artificial for many years. As a matter of fact, most major baseball fields have replanted natural grass in the past several years. Synthetic is quickly becoming out of style for many reasons:
Not only does it heat up and contribute to raising temperatures in urban environments b/c it is plastic (wow... sounds like a great tailgate party... pass the defibrilator!) it is costly and needs replacing before it can actually be less expensive than grass to maintain. (Synthetic has a lifespan of 8 to 10 years. It would take 15 years for it to cost less than real grass).
Synthetic must be cleaned regularly (with antimicrobials and water) and needs repairs for tears and gouges that often require replacement. It causes more skin injuries when played upon and more opportunity for disease to spread to these abbrasions, as it lacks a natural antibacterial property found in grass.
Obviously, it does not give off oxygen.
Come on yall - don't let them do this. I wonder which company will be awarded the bid to install this fake grass? Another "former council member" like Tom Marshall who will benefit from his connections? Questions need to be raised.
http://www.webwaddle.com/nosyntheticturf.h…
I thought the "irrigated turf grass" was supposed to be actual, REAL grass growing through some sort of concrete-ish mesh... so you get green to look at, grass growing (and drainage!) while still being sturdy enough to park on.
To me, this sounds like an ideal surface for parking/tailgating, farmers markets, etc.
The big question is what else to put around this area for the 355 days a year it isn't being used for football - skatepark and farmers market, neighborhood market, etc. all sound like incredibly viable ideas.
And I second the question about roller derby in the Coliseum... and for that matter, other neighborhood level events (kids film fests, etc).
Seriously, does anyone know if the ice maker is still working there? With no ice center in the Kroc plans, this could be a cheap way of completing the recreational aspect of the redeveloped fair grounds.
I think the problem with hosting events in the Coliseum can be traced back to ADA compliance. The facility needed some major work to become ADA compliant and the decision was that the arena was just not worth what was required. It was a “fix it” or “close it” scenario. If I'm off, someone please correct me.
urbanut,
So spectator accessibility would be the main issue? I wonder what the ADA compliance cost would be if the usage area were scaled down. As an ice rink/derby venue, the entire building would not have to be used.
Because the Mid-South Coliseum is a National Historic Register property, there are federal grants available to renovate the structure. It was placed on the Register due to its status as the first integrated venue in the Deep South.
Again, why was there a report of synthetic grass and what is irrigated turf grass? Where are the answers to these burning questions? Only the sinkhole knows!
The turf grass grows through a plastic honeycomb that controls erosion--it's what the Zoo should pay to install on the Greensward in Overton Park if they continue to park there which they shouldn't.
A plastic honeycomb? Did the Flyer not have this information?
So let me get this straight: We lost the two rarest Americana-style landmark amusement rides in the entire US of A for 15 ACRES OF PLASTIC?
When Tim goes off, it is called a rant in these pages. But when I go off, it is something else entirely. Well I am going off. This takes the big greasy lard CAKE. I have never seen such a lack of journalistic follow-through since my days working for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. There, that is the worst I can say about this horrendously un-dealt with, un-investigated SWINDLE OF THE TAXPAYER going on at the Historic Mid-South Fairgrounds. Memphis = SINKHOLE.
Actually, it's 15 acres of grass that will not erode.
Erosion: bad. No erosion: good.
@dp: Your grief/anger seems a bit disproportionate to the situation. Are you even a Memphis/Shelby County taxpayer these days?
Denise, I do believe that John mentioned it by brand name in an earlier article.
The honeycomb bears the weight of traffic, keeping the soil from being compacted and stopping subsequent mud puddles from forming.
It's a smart product for what's being done--far superior to paving which would contribute more runoff to the storm water problem we already have in Midtown.
Hell hath no furry like a woman that has had her roller coaster sold out from under her
I agree on the concept of building a multi-leval parking garage, people park blocks away for these big games and block critical govermental outlets nearby and private homeowner's too.
there is more than enough room
on those 150-60 acres
to restore & replace the carousel
and surround it with
a community garden-
it could be a memorial to the boy named crockett
who lost his life saving a balloon for a little girl
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