Memphians to Get First Look at Transformed Tom Lee Park at New Engagement Center
MEMPHIS — Memphians are about to get their first look at what their riverfront can become. Beginning at noon on Saturday, February 2, the public is invited to explore the future of Tom Lee Park at a new Engagement Center. The Center, located at the north end of Tom Lee Park in Beale Street Landing, will feature a scale model, architectural renderings, animations and even an immersive virtual reality experience produced by Studio Gang and SCAPE to illustrate their design for the new park.
Memphis River Parks Partnership is halfway to their $70M goal on a capital campaign that has already supported three major projects: River Garden, River Line and the restoration of the Cobblestone Landing. The balance will fund the new Tom Lee Park, 30 acres of public land from bluff to bank, between historic Beale Street and Georgia Avenue. Construction is anticipated to begin this June and will conclude by the end of 2020.
The Tom Lee Park Engagement Center will be open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, beginning February 4. Additionally, Partnership staff will host office hours each week from 4–7 p.m. every Wednesday and 12–3 p.m. every Saturday through May, during which visitors may test out the virtual reality component. Locals and visitors are invited to see and interact with the design for the future Tom Lee Park, learn more about the community-engaged design process and understand the river’s history with a particular focus on the man whom the park is named for: Tom Lee. The opening of the Center will coincide with the start of Black History Month, giving Memphians an opportunity to remind themselves of the heroics of one of Memphis’ most prominent African-American heroes.
The design of Tom Lee Park is being led by international architecture and urban design practice Studio Gang and landscape architecture and urban design studio SCAPE. Local students from North and South Memphis have played a key role as embedded designers through the Youth Design Leadership Program, developed by Studio Gang in partnership with Douglass High School and KnowledgeQuest.
“Memphians have been imagining what this riverfront can be for almost 100 years. After two and a half years of studying every riverfront plan and hearing from more than 4,000 Memphians, I think we’ve finally nailed it,” said Carol Coletta, President and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership. “Memphians are going to be so excited by what’s coming to Tom Lee Park. This project is already making national news and will be an unequaled civic statement we can all be proud of as we begin our third century.”
The Engagement Center’s ongoing activation and additional riverfront community engagement efforts will be spearheaded by Memphis River Parks Partnership’s newest hire, Jamal Boddie, who will serve as the Hyde Community Engagement Fellow beginning in February. Serving most recently as the Senior Coordinator of Sport Activations for the Memphis Grizzlies, Boddie has significant experience working alongside community and establishing deep, meaningful relationships in Memphis.
“I care deeply about my hometown of Memphis. Through my work with the Memphis Grizzlies I’ve experienced first-hand the impact of reviving underused public spaces,” said Boddie, the Memphis River Parks Partnership’s new Hyde Community Engagement Fellow. “I look forward to transferring that experience to a much greater scale on the riverfront. I’ll be collaborating and communicating with diverse groups across our community to ensure that the riverfront serves as a crossroads for all Memphis and Shelby County.”
“I believe Memphis River Parks will showcase and redefine what it means to be a Memphian,” said Deveney Perry, a new Memphis River Parks ambassador
Tom Lee Park is the latest major effort in a holistic redevelopment of the riverfront. The recently-completed River Garden at the intersection of Riverside Drive and Jefferson Avenue features an inventive and playful treehouse and pavilion, more than 30 different types of wildflowers and grasses and a series of life-size, student-built bird nests. Since its opening in November, the River Garden has fast become a popular gathering space. Weekly Firepit Fridays draw a diverse crowd and the Partnership even receives fan mail celebrating the space. The 5-mile River Line trail also opened in November, linking the Wolf River entrance at Mud Island’s north end of Greenbelt Park to the Big River Crossing on the south of Downtown Memphis. An on-street bike connection will extend the River Line to MLK Park in South Memphis this Spring. Additionally, the restoration of the riverfront’s historic cobblestone landing is funded and will work will begin this year.
This month, Memphis River Parks Partnership welcomed more than 50 volunteer ambassadors to Beale Street Landing to accelerate the Partnership’s programming, outreach, and fundraising. The ambassadors, who individually applied for the opportunity, will activate the new Engagement Center, existing riverfront assets, and future elements of Tom Lee Park.
“I believe Memphis River Parks will showcase and redefine what it means to be a Memphian,” said Deveney Perry, a new Memphis River Parks ambassador. “Tom Lee Park is for everyone — families, entrepreneurs, bikers, walkers — and as a proud ambassador, I look forward to sharing my enjoyment and message with each of them. Together, we make Memphis great!”
Visit the Facebook event to learn more about the February 2 grand opening.
ABOUT THE MEMPHIS RIVER PARKS PARTNERSHIP. The Memphis River Parks Partnership is a 501(c)3 that works with and for the people of Memphis to trigger the transformative power of our river. For more information, visit https://www.memphisriverparks.org/.
ABOUT STUDIO GANG. Founded and led by architect and MacArthur Fellow Jeanne Gang, Studio Gang is a world-renowned architecture and urban design practice headquartered in Chicago with offices in New York, San Francisco, and Paris. The studio’s highly-acclaimed body of work spans scales and typologies, from cultural and public buildings to urban master plans and high-rise towers. The Studio works as a collective of more than 100 architects, urban designers, thinkers, and makers to connect people to each other, to their communities, and to their environment. The firm was recently named one of the world’s best architectural firms by ArchDaily. Under the leadership of Principal of Urbanism and Civic Impact Gia Biagi, Studio Gang was commissioned to produce the 2017 Memphis Riverfront Concept, a document that will serve as the foundation for the redevelopment.
Studio Gang was previously commissioned by the Mayor’s Riverfront Task Force, under the leadership of Special Counsel Alan Crone, to deliver the Memphis Riverfront Concept. Built on significant community engagement, including more than 4,000 surveys from every ZIP code in Shelby County, the concept presents a connected set of moves that combine to create outsized value. For more information about Studio Gang’s Memphis Riverfront Concept, visit http://studiogang.com/project/memphis-riverfront-concept.
ABOUT SCAPE. SCAPE is a design-driven landscape architecture and urban design studio based in New York, with an office in New Orleans. SCAPE is known for its extensive waterfront and resiliency portfolio and works to connect people to their immediate environment while creating dynamic and adaptive landscapes of the future. SCAPE is founded and led by Kate Orff, who was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2017 — the first to receive the award in the field of landscape architecture.
