Park Becomes Parking Lot

Strange as it seems, in Memphis parking for cars still beats out parks for people on our waterfront.

The levelled, football field-size area in Tom Lee Park is not a skate park, playground, or outdoor terrace under construction. It's a chunk of park on its way to becoming a new parking lot for Beale Street Landing.











Except for a tenth of a mile, the west side of Riverside Drive will be lined with parking lots.















Two City-owned parking garages, built in the 1950s, stand on and block our riverbluff promenade. Now we're repeating the mistake in Tom Lee Park. Even with public parking and trolley stops nearby, a waterfront park for people is beoming a parking lot for cars, not something normally associated with a project billed as "world class."