Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Fairgrounds Arena Building Gets Reprieve; Youth Bldg. Part of Demolition
Posted by Mary Cashiola on Tue, Mar 9, 2010 at 3:02 PM
The Memphis City Council's executive committee today voted to demolish most of the buildings on the former fairgrounds and create a great lawn.
"It's probably better to tell you what's remaining," said architect and former council member Tom Marshall. "The children's museum and its annex, and buildings that park services is using for storage will remain; Fairview will remain, and the women's center will remain."
After concerns were raised about the fairgrounds arena building by councilman Jim Strickland, the committee voted to postpone demolition of the building.
After the Mid-South Coliseum was closed, the AutoZone Liberty Bowl began using the arena building for pre-game festivities. As part of the original plan presented today, the city offered the group use of a large tent until a replacement venue could be erected.
The Liberty Bowl pays the city about $20,000 for the use of the arena building, but a tent large enough to hold the 5,000 attendees would cost $100,000.
"It's been our understanding that the city would provide a tent at the same cost we paid in the past for the use of the Coliseum or the arena building," said AutoZone Liberty Bowl executive director Steve Ehrhart.
"It may be more cost effective to leave the arena building up," CAO George Little told the council.
Marshall cautioned the council that they needed to get started within the next two weeks if they wanted a Great Lawn by the first game of the season.
And the location of the arena building? Right in the middle of where the Great Lawn will be.
Another building also in the Great Lawn area is the youth building, currently home to Memphis Roller Derby. After representatives from the city told council members the derby has secured another location — as a volunteer of the organization, I can say that's *not* true — concerns about the youth building were dropped, and the building was included in the demolition plans.
As it stands now, the roller derby is still looking for a permanent home. The group has continued weekly practices in the Youth Building for as long as the city will allow, and bouts — there's one this Saturday night, by the way — have been scheduled at the FunQuest in Collierville.
Comments (14)
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So we are going to tear down one building that is generating $20,000 annually in order to subsidize said "renter" to a tune of $100,000 until we can build a new facility. Did I read that correctly? Which building is the arena building? Is it the big white pitched roof structure located between Mississippi Ave., Arkansas St. and Early Maxwell Blvd. (as seen in Google Maps)?
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How much does it cost to mow the "Great Lawn"?
PS-When did we start using People's Republic of China titles for fields?
I drove around the fairgrounds last night and I think the building you're describing, urbanut, has to be the arena building. (There isn't a lot of signage over there so I'm basing that on its size, location, and extreme ugliness.)
Driving the site is the best way to understand this project. Building names are not much help otherwise. Nothing like seeing it all.
Is the Creative Arts Building, formerly called the Women's Building, going to be demolished for the Great Sinkhole? er -- "Lawn?"
And what about the trees? The acreage formerly known as Libertyland had some great shade trees there. But then, it is a WETLAND!
Wow !! Am I missing something, or was this developed at lunch on a napkin an hour before the meeting?
I just want them to raise the speed limit on Southern. Come on, it's four lanes.
The Arena Building is the huge, ugly corrugated metal barn looking building where they had the Fair rodeo before the Coliseum was built.
As a sponsor of Memphis Roller Derby, I am appalled at the city's lack of consideration for the MRD organization and the fans the bouts attract.
Building a green space to try to mimic the Grove in Oxford is ridiculous. That is 6 or 7 days a year of use, maybe 10 or 12 if you add the Liberty Bowl and Southern Classic.
But most appalling is that, once again, Memphis is moving forward at a rapid pace with demolition when there is no final plan in place. When in doubt, tear it down. What's the schedule for wrecking balls at the Coliseum?
On an unusually optimistic note: Maybe we, as citizens, should be thinking about how we can make some lemonade out of this situation. A green space (or mall, mews, park as some might call it) would serve as a great focus/venue for an expanded farmers market, festival space or (if designed with the proper dimensions in mind) as ball or soccer fields. My point it there are other uses for the space if done correctly.
We should make the Great Lawn a dog park--a shovel ready project to create jobs for all the underemployed shit-shovelers in this town.
For what it's worth, I just talked to Tom Marshall and he said they are saving all trees better than 6 inches in diameter (I wanted the Osage Oranges in the petting zoo area).
He also clarified that the "artificial turf" is, in fact, real grass growing through an erosion abating grid.
He did offer me the timbers from the Zippin, if anyone wants to pay me to saw them up and build something for them from it.
Where do we pick up wood from the Pippin? I'd pay a buck a board and do something useful with that historic material.
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