Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Mulroy’s Salvage Mission Finally Succeeds: Green Bay to Get the Zippin’ Pippin
Posted by Jackson Baker on Tue, Feb 9, 2010 at 2:01 AM
- Mayor A C Wharton got a basket of goodies Monday from Green Bay, Wisconsin, while that city's mayor, Jim Schmitt (center), got dibs on the Zippin' Pippin from the famous ride's custodian, Steve Mulroy of Save, Libertyland!, Inc.
Only the famous roller-coaster ride that tested the mettle of innumerable Memphians since 1923, when it first showed up at the Fairgrounds, won’t be preserved on its home grounds. Rather, in Green Bay, Wisconsin, a town heretofore more famous for football than for free fall.
As head of the ad hoc group Save Libertyland! Inc., Mulroy has been trying since 2006, the year he ran for — and won — his District 5 commission seat, to prevent the legendary attraction from going extinct along with the rest of the vintage Fairgrounds properties as the site’s amusement park core headed for shutdown.
After Mulroy, a University of Memphis law professor, and his fellow Pippin enthusiasts had done a good deal of shopping the Pippin out to various amusement parks in their spare time, the mayor of Green Bay, Jim Schmitt, got wind of what was going on and asked for a look-see. On Monday, Schmitt (who is surely used to inclement weather) braved the snow, ice, and slush of Memphis to examine the property, arriving in town along with other Green Bay officials.
He and they liked what they saw, and Schmitt announced at the end of the day that, upon returning to Green Bay, he would recommend to his city council that they buy the Pippin. In practice, that means the name, the ride’s basic architecture and physical plan, and its historical association will be sold — with new boards and other materials to be supplied by the Wisconsin city.
Tentatively, the transplanted Pippin would reopen in 2011 at the Bay Beach site in the Green Bay area, and Schmitt estimated the deal could be wrapped up within 60 days.
Helping to midwife the deal was Memphis mayor A C Wharton, who met with Mulroy and Schmitt on Monday — though the city itself had no claim to ownership over Pippin, which had become the sole property of Save Liberftyland!, Inc.
Though Mulroy estimates that millions will be lavished on the Pippin during its restoration at Bay Beach, he acknowledges that the purchase price was quite a bit smaller — maybe even a token sum, especially in comparison to Mulroy’s own fundraising efforts for his reelection bid, which, he wanted it known, are subject to no Pippin-like rise-and-fall but are going straight up, along with several key endorsements, and…..
But that’s another story, which — if the oh-so-bashful commissioner assents — may get told at some later point.
Comments (56)
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Kudos to Commissioner Mulroy for finding the Pippin a new life. It's time to let go of the past and bring this city forward. Sick and saddened by the blight that's overtaken Libertyland.
Hate that we couldn't use it here in Memphis, but life goes on. It just didn't make sense at that location any more, but I hope Green Bay has fun with it.
Well at least there is no reason to wonder what it would look like in Green Bay- the ice and snow left little to the imagination for the new Wisconsin home. Now we know who to blame for the Snowpocalypse.
"jensized" -- By blight, do you mean the destruction caused by the City in the absence of any stated plan for Midtown's historic park?
I think she means blight caused by a concept (i.e. an amusement park) which outlived it usefulness in the area. It was landlocked and couldn't expand, so it died. When you're talking about a business like Libertyland, that's what happens when the market forces take over. Similarly, it's why no one locally wanted the Pippin. They tried to give it to Elvis Presley Enterprises and they wouldn't take it. The Pippin was saved for years and no one could make it work, either as a restoration project or a business venture. So we're selling it to someone who can make it work in their concept. It's time to move on and focus on what happens with the Fairgrounds, not what has passed there.
Thanks TennesseeDrew. That is exactly what I meant. Thought I was pretty straightforward, but it seems some people in this city are more attached to preservation for its own sake, impracticalities be damned. It's as if the memories will suddenly disappear.
Maybe Green Bay will buy the vacant Overton Square buildings too. Then we might all be able to move on and reasonably consider developement there.
Engineered blight is quite a different story. That is what happened with the Fairgrounds AND Overton Square: a few powerful people withholding valuable properties and cultural assets from the public.
Heritage tourism, anyone?
Denise, nobody admires your passion more than I do but even with the Pippin and the Grand Carousel our Libertyland--a third-rate amusement park with no room to grow--wasn't ever going to generate sustainable levels of heritage tourism. That comment conjures up images straight out of some satirical George Saunders short story. Same with Overton Square which is a testament to the muttishness of our architectural heritage.
Put the conspiracies away. Both OS & LL have--in very different ways-- fallen victim to unsustainable business models. But there's more to preservation than keeping things upright. Preservation without a sustainable plan is also engineered blight. Perhaps the very definition.
We have a plan, Chris -- it's been in circulation for quite some time:
http://www.savethepippin.com/
and, more specifically:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JBeAxDk9jw
it will complement any plan put forth by the city... btw, when IS the city going to unveil their "plan?"
What Chris, Tennessee Drew and Zippy said.
Especially Zippy. Comment o' week material there!
I feel like I missed something. weren't steve & denise on the same team re libertyland at one point?
In response to Shasta McNasty…
Yes, they were. But Denise and her sister refused to consider any option other than leaving the Pippin where it is. And their proposal for an energy efficient community garden/dog park/beer garden around the Pippin is charming. But after many, many meetings with city officials and developers, Steve realized that the city was not going to leave the Pippin where it was. He and other early members of Save Libertyland! Inc., wanted to try other options. Hence the split with Denise. In early December, the city gave Save Libertyland! Inc., until December 24th to move the Pippin, or the city was going to tear it down. Steve negotiated with the city and the city agreed to dismantle and store the Pippin rather than demolish it. Since the city will still not commit to using the Pippin at the Children’s museum or another sight, Steve and the other members of Save Libertyland! Inc., agreed that a sale to out of towners would be better than mothballing the Pippin until who knows when, if ever. The Green Bay folks really appreciate the Pippin's historic value and want to give it a good home- and free rides for Memphians!
The Pippen when it first came to East End Park arrived in the form of the train, the motor, the lift chain and sprockets, the break hardware, and large sheets of blueprints; about a boxcar load. The framework, track, loading platform, and everything else was fabricated onsite using local lumber and hardware.
If you still have those blueprints David, we've been searching for them for 4 years!
And AK -- that is the most detailed hallucination ever posted.
David: Indeed, if you have blueprints, we need to see them.
TennesseeDrew and Chris: Good points all. Thanks. One minor quibble: I don't think Libertyland's demise really was an inevitable outcome, victim of changing market dynamics, etc. We had not one but two out of state amusement park companies willing to take it over, convinced they could do so at a profit, because, unlike MidSouth Fair, they were amusement park industry professionals. Its demise was a deliberate decision by the Herenton Administration that it had other priorities--including, crucially and fatally, a new football stadium which never materialized. I agree, though, that it is too late now.
Also, there is still a viable plan to place the Pippin over at the Children's Museum, one which credible professionals inside and outside of the current Administration think is worth serious consideration. However, as AK said, the City is not ready to commit any time soon, and very well may never commit to it. So finding it a good home now is preferable to "mothballing the Pippin until who knows when, if ever."
AK, quibble taken with minor counter-quibbles. Libertland's demise WAS organic. The Herenton administration didn't kill it they just decided to bury rather than reanimate it and for reasons that may include but aren't limited to the new stadium. I seem to recall that there was quite a bit of money pumped into Libertyland--a financial liability by all accounts-- just before it closed. The money for marketing, redesigned logos, and a general spiffing up. It was too little too late, but enough to show that this wasn't a mob hit.
I remember the amusement companies too ... we ran a cover feature about that in the Flyer. One chose to remain anonymous which doesn't instill a lot of confidence. And then there's T-Rex entertainment, a group that turned around a couple of failing parks elsewhere. I don't remember any plan being put forward, although there was a lot of "he said she said" about whether or not an offer had been made to lease the property. At the time there was also a lot of back and forth between the city and the Fairgrounds over who owned the rides. I don't remember if this scared the amusement companies away or if a plan was put forward and formally rejected. But either way, it may be fair to accuse the Herenton administration of cutting off life support, but the patient had been near death for a long time.
The "anonymous" company was Magic Springs, where I worked for a year in group sales after moving to Hot Springs, a city less than 1/10 the size of Memphis that supports a theme park/waterpark quite well (the twins would love it here, Chris). Magic Springs profited greatly from booming group sales of companies, churches, family reunions, etc. that formerly went to Libertyland... the other company (T Rex Entertainment) made a $5 million dollar lease offer that was rejected by the city. That was three years ago. The city chose vacancy and engineered blight.
The bottom line is that this whole Fairgrounds debacle is corrupt to the core. I made the mistake of thinking a newspaper that bills itself as "alternative" would catch on and take the opportunity to do some real investigative journalism... my bad!
Chris: True enough that Libertyland was on life support toward the end. We can agree to disagree about whether the most important cause was inevitable market forces versus MidSouth Fair management. Green Bay has made it work for the last 100 years with a smaller city, and they're expanding.
I can tell you that the $5 million lease offer from T-Rex referred to by Denise Parkinson actually took the form of a Letter Of Intent between T-Rex and Herenton/Lipscomb, one which went to the City Council for approval in the winter of 2006. We were that close: we had a signed Letter Of Intent to rebuild Libertyland.
Then, Herenton announced in his New Year's Day address that he wanted a new stadium, and suddenly RL was saying "Sorry, new direction." Steve met personally with Herenton on this shortly thereafter and was told that everything was being swept aside to make room for the new stadium and attendant parking & etc., except the CMOM and Fairview, and there was simply no longer any room for Libertyland.
Maybe you say, well, at most that would have just delayed the inevitable a few years. I like to think otherwise. But we'll never know.
AK, I don't know if it would have delayed the inevitable or not because I don't know what T-Rex's plans were. It might have been fantastic. I'm completely agnostic about this but the kind of grass roots movement that can effect real change never seemed to coalesce.
I'd forgotten about the letter of intent. But didn't the original offer of $10,000/mo include some language about the possibility of having to move the park? I could look that up, I suppose.
And Denise, what's is up with the "" around anonymous. When a company says it doesn't want to be identified it's anonymous. And for some time at least they asked not to be identified. I hate to sound contrary because I'm a big believer in preservation and revitalizing the urban core. But I'm also contrary. So scapegoat away there's been reporting about this of this from all quarters. It's been shown to be clusterfucktacular, if not exactly corrupt. Not that it's not that too.
All I know Chris is that a group started by three sisters (who love Elvis) was defrauded away from them by two ambitious men who have profited both financially and politically. This is a clear-cut case of fraud and political corruption -- even unto the politicians who now say they are in charge of Save Libertyland!, the group my sisters and I began only to have it stolen... just like Elvis's Last Ride is being stolen from Memphis. There's no justice, there's just us.
For the record, Chris, I've always thought the Flyer's coverage was fair, thorough, non-sporadic, and generally sympathetic. I could not reasonably have asked for more.
I am totally shocked & sickened that Misty and Denise believe politicos in this town would take them for a ride (on Elvis' favorite coaster no less). I refuse to believe that the Parkinson's were used for political purposes, manipulated, sold down the river, or led astray by candidates or elected officials. I am calling the Commercial Appeal, every media outlet, and RSVP magazine! Who do those women take us for, fools ?
Actually, now that I re-read your post, I take you for a member of the Tassled-Loafer Mentality Club. You can ask Bruce and John B about that designation -- it fits you so well.
Denise, when your argument degenerates to the point at which you're denigrating reporters by calling them "tassled-loafer" wearing elites, you've completely lost.
I've never been to Liberty Land since I didn't move to Memphis until I was 18, but I am constantly amazed by the passion surrounding it. From all I know, it was a third-rate amusement park that lost money. Doesn't Memphis have more important things for passion and grass-roots activism?
Davis, Branston ... There will be a meeting of the tassled-loafer reporters club at 9:30 sharp. Topic of discussion: How to handle raving nutjobs.
The sad thing is, nutjobs can be right, just no one will ever know, because, well, they are nutjobs.
Look, 'I went to the demonstration/ to get my fair share of abuse.' Am I not entitled to it? Why are Davis and Branston taking hits for a story I wrote? C'mon, Denise, sock it to me! I even OWN a pair of tasseled loafers!
(Actually, Chris, Bruce, I think the "tasseled-loafer" remark was aimed at Tom G.
Tom: "What do these women take us for? etc." Denise: "Now that I re-read you post [Post??] , I take you for a member of the Tassled Loafer Mentality Club, etc.")
I've seen these comment threads get scrambled before, but this is ridiculous!
Adding, I tried to find some stick-on tassels for my motorcycle boots on ebay this morning. Nothing doing.
So let's get this straight. Mrs. Parkinson started a non profit which failed in its mission. She then ran for city gov. position, if memory serves, and lost. She then lost control of her failed non profit. She then moved away. Yet she still trolls the Memphis talk boards and posts innumerable posts about her lost cause. Then other newspaper just wrote an article detailing how ineffective and, according to folks like Mrs. West, offensive Parkinson's tactics were. Now she is left calling Flyer writers "tassled loafer club members," whatever in the world that actually means, when all they are doing is pointing all of the above out. All this over a failed and never particularly good amusement park ride that Elvis liked. Because god knows the one thing this city needs to spend time money and effort on, in the worst recession in memory and with all its other problems, is an old roller coaster that Elvis liked to ride. Can the rest of us at least come to a consensus that this continued discussion about Libertyland is pointless and over and move on to something useful? We have a greenway to build and a riverside to argue about. Can we stop arguing about a closed amusement park, please?
Oops! Sorry, I don't belong here. I googled "Bass Men's Layton Kiltie Size 11" and was directed to this thread.
I think you're right Jack, it was the "ask Bruce and John B about that designation" that fooled me... that and the fact that, while having a bit of fun with her, Tom is basically offering a big "no duh" to Denise's claim that politicians are self-serving.
Uh oh, Chris, the thread is raveling up again. "Jack" is somebody else. I think your last note is meant for me. But, hey, who knows?
Hear hear! Tassle-loafered elites should be tied to the rusting tracks of the Pippin, so we curly-toe slippered elites can assume our rightful place and rule the Fairgrounds. Let us don our smoking jackets and our fezes and storm the chain link fences of Liberty(land)!
I always wear by Python boots when I do the fish-slapping dance on Tom Sawyer Island.
Come on guys! If Wisconsin sees the value of acquiring Elvis's Last Ride, does that make me a Cheesehead for pointing out that Memphis is on the losing end of this crooked deal? A deal made in the absence of any plan for the park?
I take your abuse in the name of every blonde who was ever told to just shut up and go away....
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