Shelby County Gov't. and Citizen Groups Get Jump Start on Earth Day

Earth Day is officially April 22, but a Shelby County meeting got a jump on the event's 40th anniversary.

A wide spectrum of grassroots community leaders met with Shelby County Mayor Ford's Chief of Staff, Pam Marshall, on Friday, Apr. 16 in the Mayor's offices. A full room of citizen group and project leaders exchanged information and suggestions with County staff on issues ranging from community gardens, vacant lots, water quality, parks, trails, greenways, and neighborhood air quality to transparency and citizen access in county operations.

The meeting was extended as the quality and diversity of discussion intensified and a sense of unique productivity emerged from problem-solving with community activists not normally inclded in this level of policy dialogue. When the meeting finally adourned, both sides expressed satisfaction with initial action steps that came out of the discussions. The suggestion to hold follow-up meetings was enthusiastically applauded by all and the next meeting will be announced shortly.

Click HERE for Jackson Baker's coverage for the Flyer.

Tucker's Alley - The Basics of Good Preservation

Cyndy Grivich Tucker unveiled the marker designating Jack Tucker Alley. Comments by his friends and a tour by Jimmy Ogle and Keith Kays were a 101 course on what preservation and good design have meant to downtown revitalization.

The principles guiding Jack's work might be summed up as keep it simple, keep it real, keep it functional and always pay attention to the details. They are the principles that protected "his" alley's character and prevented the authentic cobblestones from being replaced by fake Bomanite replicas, and the same principles that guided Jack's suggestions on the best way to restore our historic Cobblestone Landing, a project now threatened by a design that calls for regrading the landing's slope and using riprap along the landing's toe.

Here are photos of some of Jack's work downtown that illustrate his design principles.Read more »

Happy Birthday!

April 12, 1893 was the opening dedication of the 1st public library in Memphis at the corner of Front & Monroe.

What better way to celebrate the Cossitt's 117th birthday than to become a Friend of the Library?

Click on this form to enlarge, print a copy, and mail it in. Or join online HERE. Tag it for the Cossitt.



To learn more about the library and the Cossitt family, the library’s 1st friends, click HERE.

Season Openers, Crawfish on the Riverfront, & more

Mud Island River Park, Memphis Farmers Market, and the Redbirds kick-off their seasons. Downtown hosts Harwood's 5K F Night and Africa in April. Conference speakers tackle a myriad of topics including streets and sustainability. And the Rajun Cajun Crawfish Festival comes North to our riverfront with "mudbugs" and Zydeco. Click HERE to check out April's "Upcoming Events."

Alley Naming & Walking Tour Honors Jack Tucker

On Saturday, April 3 at 1 pm, the sign will go up naming the cobblestone alley just south of Union, between Front and Wagner, Jack Tucker Alley. Afterwards Jimmy Ogle will lead a walking tour of some of the master architect's most significant downtown projects.

You might wonder, why name an alley for Jack? But for someone who understood urban spaces, the importance of the details that create them, and spent much of their architectural career giving Memphis's historic spaces new life, it is the perfect memorial. And it adds Tucker to a colorful and fascinating list of Memphians for whom downtown's alleys are named, a list that includes Rendezvous barbecue king Charlie Vergos, another long-time downtown advocate who died this past week.

Jack Tucker, recognized as the "father of downtown living," was an architect, downtown residential pioneer, and advocate for preservation. He served on the Landmarks Commission and boards of AIA, Memphis Heritage, Chickasaw Bluff Conservancy, and Friends for Our Riverfront.
Read more »

Late March on the Riverfront

Sunshine and warm weather kick off riverboat cruise season and bring skate boarders to the riverfront.