In Memory of Ann Breen with gratitude for her commitment to community planning and the Memphis Riverfront

It is with heavy heart that we share an announcement from the Waterfront Center announcing the death of its co-founder and co-director, Ann Breen, on Friday, January 7, 2022, after a brief illness.

Following eight years as the Waterfront Coordinator for the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Coastal Zone Management, Ann had the vision to co-found the Waterfront Center in November, 1981 with Dick Rigby; she served as its co-director for 41 years. Through the Center, she traveled the world providing community consulting; in 1981, organized an industry-leading annual conference; and ran an annual juried awards program to recognize outstanding plans and projects. 

In 1999, the City of Memphis hired The Waterfront Center to lead participatory community planning workshops on the riverfront; thus began Ann's and the Center's commitment to our riverfront. In 2000 they honored the Chickasaw Bluff Conservancy for preserving public access along the Blufftop and the resultant Bluffwalk. In 2009 the Center honored Friends for Our Riverfront for leadership in protecting and promoting an environmentally sustainable, historically sensitive, public riverfront; and in 2017, the Center awarded the year's top honor award to Big River Crossing, which transformed the Harahan Bridge to include a pedestrian crossing from TN to AR and future parks and trails along the river.  Link to Waterfront Center searchable database of projects.

Read more »