Channel 5 Reports on BSL Status

Channel 5's Jason Miles reported Wednesday that the RDC needs millions "more taxpayer dollars to keep the controversial Beale Street Landing project afloat."


MemphisCobblestones.com blogger, Mike Cromer, clarifies the dollar amounts needed to cover the shortfall - what the RDC is asking for now ($2M) and what will surface down the road at budget time in May ($7M more).

[Click here to read more...]

Illustrations of BSL - Where it started, Where it is now.

Here's the location:



















Here's what was there:













Here's what 2002 RDC MasterPlan called for:

















Here's the design from RTN in Argentina:























Here's a model:














Here's what we're building:



















































Tall buildings in background are One Beale, a private hotel/condo project on hold because of the economy.

Take a virtual tour HERE.


Here's where we are now:























Photo taken 2/10/2010. Near completion of Phase 2 with Phases 3, 4A, and 4B ahead.

• The cost has gone from $10.3M to somewhere around $37M.

• The overnight riverboats it was designed to serve have gone out of business.

• We currently have 2 commercial boat landings:

#1 Cobblestone Landing - serves our local riverboat excursion company


#2 Boat landing at Mud Island River Park - closed.

Do we need/can we afford a 3rd?

[Click here to read more...]

B$L - Numbers in Disarray

Time to call a "time-out", get independent audit and analysis!

Sports fans all know that a time-out is a good thing - a chance to see what's working, what's not working, and make adjustments. Memphis definitely needs one on the riverfront.

The numbers are in disarray. They keep changing and the city's share keeps going up. No one is clear what's been spent, what the earmarks are actually for, or what contracts have actually been signed. And no answers have been given to the important questions about paying for future maintenance and operation of the boat dock.


May 2009 Hand-out to City Council during budget hearings showed:

Total estimated cost of BSL - $33M
City’s share: $22.3M
Breakdown:
$ 7.4M City money spent
$ 3.6M State money spent
$14.9M City money, not yet spent
$7.9M Federal money, not yet spent
(Click image at right to enlarge hand-out)

Dec. 13, 2009 Commercial Appeal reported:
$8.9M additional funding request to City as a result of $8.2M in cost over-runs and $1.4M reduction in federal funds.

Based on those numbers, it looks like the design and construction cost of BSL is now around $41.3M, with the City’s share at $31.2M. And that doesn't include what we'll have to pay to operate and maintain the boat dock if it's built.

[Click here to read more...]

Vibrant Riverfront for Less

A letter-to-the editor at the Commercial Appeal had
5 good suggestions for how to reduce the cost of BSL and get more bang for the buck on the riverfront.

Check them out HERE and share your ideas. Several comments so far: make it a deck not a dock; get rid of the “pods/islets” and put a playground at the N. end of Tom Lee Park; convert it to a skate park; make it a plaza with food vendors.

You can add your comments at MemphisCobblestones.com or e-mail your suggestions to us at info@friendsforourriverfront.com

[Click here to read more...]

"Baby, It's Cold Outside"

And the perfect day to stay inside and
read John Branston's "Frozen" in February's Memphis Magazine.

In fact, don't miss it!! It sheds some much needed light on the controversial Beale Street Landing and raises questions that need attention before the City decides whether or not to sink more money into the boat dock. Brandon Dill's spectacular photos capture the immensity and power of the winter Mississippi. For non-subscribers, the magazine should be just-out on the newsstands or coming soon.

[Click here to read more...]

Unrealistic to expect local company assume cost increases of switch to BSL

With overnight riverboat companies out of business, our local Memphis Riverboats will be the only company using Beale Street Landing. Right now they pay to dock at the Cobblestone Landing, but plans for BSL call for ticketing and boarding of local tours to shift to the new boat dock.

Q: Is there a need for Beale Street Landing, or would the cobblestone landing we already have, with improvements that would cost less, suffice?

A. In an interview for the Daily News in 2006, the current owner of Memphis Riverboats Inc., Capt. William Lozier, said he thinks the cobblestones are a better investment. “We like where we’re at,” Lozier said. “Yeah, we’d like a new facility, but a new facility comes with new problems.”

BSL will come with serious debt (roughly $2M in annual interest alone) and new maintenance and operating expenses. What will those costs increases be? No one has said, but it’s unrealistic and unfair to expect our local company to assume them.

[Click here to read more...]

Memphisshelbyinform.com Looks at B$L

Calls for Change on Riverfront

New citizens' group, led by Memphis watchdog Joe Saino, looks at Beale Street Landing, RDC finances, and says WHOA-Beale Street Landing? $$$$

The Riverfront work is only about 20% complete and now is the time to put it on hold, call for an audit of money spent and committed and form a citizen RIVERFRONT CONSERVANCY group to make a plan that has broad public support, contains no self interested parties and with the objectives of a lower cost, lower maintenance, historically accurate and publically usable and accessible riverfront. The present plan keeps growing in cost and now is the time to put it on hold and come up with a plan that makes sense and that is not so costly and controversial.

Memphisshelbyinform.com's goal is to monitor and investigate government activities, conflicts of interest, waste and abuse, ordinances, and regulations “in the hope that a better-informed electorate will lead to better government."

[Click here to read more...]

Is it too late to rethink B$L?

With project costs up, overnight riverboats out of business, the city budget stretched, and a tax increase under consideration, the answer is NO. It's time to pause, get accurate information and do a cost benefit analysis of the project before approving any more money or signing any more contracts.

MemphisCobblestones.com looks at "How far is too far to turn back?"

Memphis is not alone in the dilemma of how to deal with expensive projects in this down-economy.

The economic downturn has reined in a lot of ... big dreams and has also led to questions about whether ambitious building projects from Buffalo to Berkeley ever made sense to begin with

according to a New York Times article.

[Click here to read more...]

How much $ is BSL really going to cost?

In December we learned there have been cost overruns and federal reductions, and that the City has been asked for $9M more dollars for Beale Street Landing. But exactly how much money has been spent? How much money will be spent? What share of that is City money? One blog, Memphis Cobblestones.com, has been trying to figure it out. Click HERE.

[Click here to read more...]

B$L - The Inconvenient Truths

John Branston exposes fiscal incompetency on the riverfront and reveals why we are where we are:

• Recipe for Screwing Up a $35M Boat Dock

• Beale Street Landing Not on Time; Not Within Budget.

Recipe for Screwing Up a $35 million Boat Dock Posted by John Branston on Fri, Dec 18, 2009 at 1:00 PM

The Riverfront Development Corporation has posted something called “the truth about Beale Street Landing” on its website.

I have not been a fan of this project since it was conceived. I thought it was grandiose and likely to take several years to complete, cost more than advertised, and overshadow quicker and simpler riverfront improvements. But now that it is underway I hope it is a success. Really. I work half a mile away and walk on the riverfront several times a week.

But I also think the way the project got to this point has been a recipe for how not to do things. Here are some inconvenient truths not included.

Start with a “master plan” with a price tag of $270 million and an infinite timetable that assures there will be no accountability.

Create a Riverfront Development Corporation staffed by three former Memphis public officials and the wife of the city attorney, conveniently making RDC stand for Retired Directors Club.

Repackage same as a focused group with more flexibility and brains than the incompetent public sector.

Pay the executive director, Benny Lendermon, more than the mayor of Memphis but give the agency less responsibility than the mayor or even the Memphis Park Commission.

Gut the master plan by removing its centerpiece, the land bridge to Mud Island and the enclosed harbor. Discuss the ramifications of this rather important and far-reaching decision for less than three minutes at a board meeting.

Pack the board with fishing buddies of the executive director, friendly city council members, and celebrities like Cybill Shepherd, John Calipari and Jerry West who had no stake in the riverfront and didn’t come to many meetings and do not live here any more.

Find a place on the board for the proudly bellicose (ex) president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association, Tommy Volinchak, but no place on the board for anyone from Friends For Our Riverfront or Joe Royer of Outdoors Inc, the founder of the canoe race and Cyclocross.

Act exasperated when they do not rise up and call you blessed.

Ignore the demonstrated popularity of minimalist Greenbelt Park across from Harbor Town, which costs little to maintain beyond cutting the grass and has virtually no capital improvements.

Ignore the lessons of Mud Island River Park, an architecture-driven white elephant plagued by delays and cost overruns and now closed half the year.

Ignore the lessons of Chattanooga’s popular riverfront, which has $42 million of private donations.

Take bids for a boat dock but ignore the possibility of a recession (check), the disappearance of overnight riverboat companies (check), the difficulty of building anything in the river especially at the mouth of a harbor and the likelihood of delays, cost increases, high maintenance, and fragile funding from Washington (check, check, and check).

Hire an architect from Argentina.

Use federal funds to leverage at least $20 million in city funds. Remind council members that the project was approved by previous council members, most of whom are no longer serving and who approved the worst administrative outrage in the history of Memphis, the 12-year pension bonanza. Leave current council little choice but to throw good money after bad.

Greet any shred of media skepticism with letters to the editor from board members, orchestrated by the RDC staff.

Lowball the cost of the project to the city council in the face of higher estimates from the city administration, ‘fess up seven months later, but accuse critics of being zany naysayers even if they actually use the riverfront, unlike the RDC board celebrities.

Ignore the probability of more price increases before project is completed in the summer 2011.

Be as adversarial as possible with regular users of the river and the boat docks like Joe Royer.

Go to war with Friends For Our Riverfront even though they are natural allies because 90 percent of the rest of Memphis doesn’t give a hoot about the riverfront after Memphis in May or worry much about tourism when they can’t make ends meet.

Insure thereby that no improvement to the overrated pile of rocks known as the cobblestones will be made for another decade and that attention will be diverted from the more important issue of Front Street.

Allow the corner of Beale and Riverside Drive to persist as a fenced-off weed yard that every tourist walking from The Peabody or Beale Street to the river can see before making that daring and challenging walk across Riverside Drive to Tom Lee Park.

Ask city council to “cough up” the “holdback” in federal funds at a time when household budgets and paychecks are being cut.

Take no blame.

Insist everything will be great.


Beale Street Landing: Not on Time, Not Within Budget Posted by John Branston on Tue, Dec 15, 2009 at 10:43 AM

The mantra for FedEx Forum was "on time, within budget, and exceed expectations." The mantra for Beale Street Landing might be the same with the addition of the word "not" a couple of times.

The Riverfront Development Corporation says the cost of former mayor Willie Herenton's signature riverfront project has increased by $8.9 million and the completion date is now the summer of 2011.

The cost overrun was not unexpected. When BSL came before the Memphis City Council in May, RDC director Benny Lendermon insisted the project cost, originally pegged at $27.4 million, was $31 million even though various documents from City Hall showed the cost was in excess of $33 million. When Councilman Kemp Conrad asked about "the delta" between the numbers, Lendermon said reports about the higher number were inaccurate.

It is now clear that they were, but on the low side, not the high side. The RDC now says the "current construction estimate" is $35 million.

The RDC reported the bad news last week in the fourth paragraph of a story on its website headlined "Beale Street Landing answers call for reunion of Memphis and the Mississippi."

"RDC has been especially prudent in managing its operating funds and careful in value-engineering various aspects of the project to reduce costs. Increases are due to a combination of delays, redesigns related to historical preservation issues, and cost escalation related to schedule delays. In addition, unexpected Congressional holdbacks have meant that federal funds designated for the project have been reduced by more than $1.4 million below what was anticipated and budgeted. Due to this nearly three-year delay, the RDC expects about $9 million in combined cost increases and funding decreases."

"Roughly $7 million of the cost increase is directly related to construction inflation, which was exacerbated as a result of Hurricane Katrina."

The federal funds "holdbacks" mean Memphis taxpayers will be asked to pay the difference as well as the cost increase. The project is underway at the north end of Tom Lee Park.

[Click here to read more...]

B$L - City asked for $9M More to Cover Cost Overruns

The cost of Beale Street Landing was up - to $33M, the City Council was told in May. Memphis's share would be $22M.

Now, 6 months later, the cost has gone up again. The Commercial Appeal reports that the federal share is down, cost is up, and the City is being asked for another $9M to pay for Beale Street Landing.

Letters-to-editor raise questions; point out more problems; and urge City to investigate and get answers before committing any more money.

First, nail down all the costs
Letters-to-the-editor, Commercial Appeal, Sunday, December 20, 2009

Troublesome delays are primarily the absence of full accounting of all the costs of the Beale Street Landing project (Dec. 13 article, "Beale St. Landing delays add cost / Need for more money arises as riverfront project drags on").

In May 2009, the Memphis City Council was informed that the project's cost had risen to $33 million from $27.4 million, increasing the city's share to $22 million instead of $17.4 million. Within six months, the city's share has now climbed to $26.3 million, absorbing $8.9 million of the recent $9.6 million increase. State funds of $3.6 million have been spent. Federal funds ($7.9 million), not yet spent, are likely to be reduced approximately $1.4 million.

"Total cost" of $35 million is misleading, as that amount is only the cost of design and construction, excluding postconstruction sustainability costs, such as routine maintenance, operating expense, security and debt service payments on bonds estimated at $1.7 million per year. The actual total cost of the project has not yet been published.

Until all of the project costs are identified in detail and verified in an accounting of the total financial package, the City Council and Mayor A C Wharton cannot make a fully informed, fiscally responsible decision on the project: to approve it as-is, curtail it or modify it. It is necessary to know specific line-item costs of the landing's postconstruction sustainability -- its source of revenue and impact on our city budget. These urgent fiscal matters transcend considerations regarding other delays, a post-Katrina construction crunch or popularity of the design.

Lynda Ireland*
Memphis

RDC excuses don't add up
Riverfront Development Corp. president Benny Lendermon owes taxpayers (and not just those in Memphis, as federal monies are also involved) an explanation regarding his request for an additional $8.9 million to complete the Beale Street Landing project. Lendermon blames a two-year delay in construction commencement for an almost 30 percent cost overrun. His statements do not add up.

Lendermon blames the dramatically increased construction costs after Hurricane Katrina for bids that were higher than initially expected. Indeed Katrina did cause an increase in construction costs, but Katrina struck New Orleans on Aug. 29, 2005, almost three years before construction began on Beale Street Landing in July 2008. How could the construction bids not have reflected post-Katrina construction costs?

Lendermon continues his excuses by stating that costs have gone up as the project has dragged on. Almost anyone involved in commercial construction knows that construction costs have fallen dramatically in the last two years. Inverse from historical trends, any construction delays over the past couple of years should have proven cost-beneficial, and significantly so at that.

If Lendermon worked in the private sector, his behind would be in the CEO's office to explain why his project is almost 30 percent over budget during a time of construction cost deflation, and his project management ability would be brought into serious question, and rightfully so. Lendermon's excuses offered so far simply make no sense, and the City Council should investigate thoroughly before committing any more money to a project destined to be a boondoggle designed to serve a now virtually nonexistent riverboat excursion industry.

G.S. Fraser
Collierville


* In the interest of full disclosure, Lynda Ireland is a member of the board of Friends for Our Riverfront and lives on the riverfront.

[Click here to read more...]

What's all the dirt about?

It's your tax dollars at work

Beale Street Landing under construction. $7.4M of city money has been spent so far. $14.9M is requested in the City's CIP budget. The total estimated public cost is now at $33M.

Click below for John Branston's May 15th "Flyer" article that takes a look at the project and cost overruns and for the RDC hand-out to City Council.

Beale Street Landing Now at $33 Million
Posted by John Branston on Fri, May 15, 2009 at 12:18 PM

Three things are going up at Tom Lee Park this week: the river level, the fragrant smoke from the barbecue contest, and the cost of Beale Street Landing.
The boat dock and future gathering place at the north end of the park, a pet project of the Riverfront Development Corporation and Mayor Willie Herenton, will now cost $33 million, according to the estimate provided to the Memphis City Council by RDC President Benny Lendermon this week.

Like river stages in May, the cost keeps going up. When a South American architectural firm was chosen to design the fancy boat dock and gathering place in 2003, the cost estimate was $20 million. By 2005, the cost of "River Outlook" had risen to $27.5 million. In 2007, the number was $29.4 million.

The $33 million includes $11.5 million in state and federal funds and about $22 million in local funds. Approximately $11 million has already been spent, which helped persuade some first-term council members to keep on funding the project that was approved by their predecessors.

The cost of steel is one of the things driving up the price. When councilman Bill Boyd asked where the steel would come from, Lendermon said "maybe in Argentina." The architectural firm, RTN Architects from Buenos Aires, is being paid $2 million. Beale Street Landing is shaping up as a nice little stimulus for one recession-ravaged economy. Shovels ready, amigos!

The landing will include, among other things, "floating" docks that will allow visitors to get finger-dipping close to Old Man River. In RDC mythology, this "touch the water" experience is not presently possible.

Leaving aside the question of how many people actually want to do this and whether it is worth $33 million, the fact is that the partially submerged cobblestones landing and Greenbelt Park across from HarborTown are currently suitable for water-touching, fishing or full-immersion baptisms 30 yards from the sidewalk.

The meaning of the landing part of Beale Street Landing has been revised. The overnight river cruise lines that used to dock at Memphis -- Delta Steamship and Majestic America -- have gone out of business. Lendermon now says the "world-class" landing was designed for the homemade vessels of the Memphis Queen Line. "The use of facility, for boating side, has always been the local excursion boats," he told council members. That does not include canoes and kayaks.

So where did anyone get the idea that the landing was for big, overnight cruising boats? From the RDC, actually.

The riverfront master plan approved by the council in 2002 specifies "a landing designed to accommodate the largest commercial riverboats and facilities for passengers with luggage."

In an interview in 2005, Lendermon said the landing was needed because "the Delta Steamship Company is close to refusing to dock at Mud Island."

The RDC website says a modern docking facility is needed because "approximately 50 stops are made by three major vessels each year, and this does not include local excursion boats." It also says "the Delta Steamship Company has increased its dockings in Memphis by 40 percent. They are trying to build their market here in anticipation of the new docking facility."

Finally, the budget summary given to the council this week calls for "a docking facility for touring and excursion boats."

The next phase of Beale Street Landing will be bid May 27th. The project, which will add four acres to the park, is supposed to be completed in the spring of 2011. The full council still has to approve continued funding, but a halt to Beale Street Landing at this stage of the game seems unlikely.

2010 Proposed RDC CIP Budget. Click HERE.

RDC Hand-out to Council CIP Budget Committee on Beale Street Landing
Click on image to enlarge.

[Click here to read more...]

BSL to receive $475,000 in stimulus funds

An article in the Commercial Appeal announced that U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen secured $475,000 in federal stimulus funding for Beale Street Landing (BSL) - the $29.4M boat dock project underway at the foot of Beale Street.

Although "shovel ready", it seems a strange project to receive funding designed to support economic recovery. The overnight boats it was intended to serve have gone out of business.

Previous public funding for the project includes approximately $10M from the state and federal government and $19M from the City.

Click below for links to the article on stimulus funds for Memphis and for additional information on BSL.

Rep. Cohen serves up pork for Memphis; suburbs not so lucky
Garage Gate, Part Two?
Away All Boats
Shovel Ready
Beale Street Landing - What, where, why, do we need it, can we afford it?
Update on BSL

Rep. Cohen serves up pork for Memphis; suburbs not so lucky
The Commercial Appeal
Friday, February 27, 2009
Reporters Clay Bailey, Jody Callahan, Kevin McKenzie and Bartholomew Sullivan contributed to this article.

The massive $410 billion spending bill that passed the House this week contains at least $2 million for Memphis and Shelby County, thanks to requests from U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis.

And U.S. Rep. Travis Childers, D-Miss., earmarked another $8 million for his district-- though DeSoto County wasn't included in the plan.

But Shelby County's suburban governments came up empty-handed in this round of spending.

The omnibus budget bill, passed on top of the $787 billion stimulus package, pays for government operations for the balance of the fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30.

Representatives from both parties tagged their pet projects onto the legislation after avoiding the add-ons to the recently passed stimulus package promoted by President Barack Obama.

The omnibus bill, which passed the House, 245-178, still must be approved by the Senate and signed by the president.

Among Mid-South congressmen, only Cohen voted for it. Childers, John Tanner, D-Tenn., and Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., voted against it.

"If you think the country needs to move forward and make progress, it's going to cost money," Cohen said, explaining his vote. "They're just programs that you support."

Cohen sponsored or co-sponsored more than $100 million in earmarks, including $14.8 million for the national Teach for America program and $24.8 million for Reading is Fundamental.

"I know that some congressmen don't get earmarks, so their districts don't get $7 (million) or $8 million in federal funding," Cohen said Thursday night.

Local earmarks by Cohen include $1 million to be split between Memphis, Shelby County, the University of Memphis and the District Attorney General's Office for efforts to fight gangs and violence. Cohen allocated another $475,000 for a Beale Street Landing docking facility and $475,000 for improvements to Elvis Presley Boulevard.

Tanner, whose district includes Millington, did not have any earmarks in Shelby County. And though Childers made earmarks for a host of projects throughout his Mississippi district, none went to DeSoto County. Childers said through a spokesman Thursday that he didn't receive any funding requests from DeSoto County.

Blackburn, whose district stretches to the suburban outskirts of Shelby County, has taken a pledge not to seek earmarks until she is satisfied the process has been reformed.

Claude Chafin, Blackburn's spokesman, said Blackburn was "appalled at how egregious the earmarking system has become, in the House specifically.

"It was no longer a process that she could be involved in in good conscience because it contributed so much wasteful federal spending."

Chafin said Blackburn is looking to the House leadership for "serious earmark reform, so that members of Congress can transparently tend to the needs of their districts."

Cohen shrugged off Blackburn's objections.

"I don't know that Congresswoman Blackburn considered them (pork-barrel spending) until the Democrats came in," he said. "I know she got some things for Memphis in the past."

Most suburban leaders were not upset Thursday about Blackburn's stance against the earmarks because the potential money wasn't even on their radar.

"We didn't ask for any, so it's not a big deal," Bartlett Mayor Keith McDonald said.

Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy said she was pretty sure no funds were involved for her city.

"We're just not accustomed to getting checks from Washington," Goldsworthy said.

In Collierville's local political campaigns last fall, candidates routinely pledged to seek more dollars from Washington and Nashville to help support the town. Mayor Stan Joyner, who took office in November, said he wasn't prepared to make a statement about the earmarks, but "it does concern me."


LOCAL EARMARKS

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen, D-Memphis:
Justice Dept. grant to deal with gang violence and violent crime -- $1 million
Beale Street Landing Docking Facility -- $475,000
U.S. 51 -- Elvis Presley Blvd. Improvements -- $475,000
Regional Medical Center, facilities and equipment -- $238,000
Rhodes College NASA Stars training curriculum -- $200,000
Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, facilities and equipment -- $190,000
Memphis Youth Services, summer and after-school employment -- $190,000

Additional projects not listed with a House sponsor, but supported by Cohen, include $4.5 million for a terminal air traffic control facility replacement at Memphis and $760,000 for the Bioworks Foundation for construction at the UT-Baptist Research Park.

U.S. Rep. John Tanner, D-Tenn.: $3.76 million in total earmarks, but none in Shelby County.

U.S. Rep. Travis W. Childers, D-Miss.:$8 million in total earmarks, but none in DeSoto County.

U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn.: Did not seek earmarks.

[Click here to read more...]

Beale Street Landing - "Virtual" View

The RDC has produced a short "virtual" video to clear up confusion and give us a preview glimpse of Beale Street Landing (BSL). If you haven't seen it yet, click HERE to watch.

Notes:
The large twin towers seen in the background on the video are not yet built. They are the proposed $250M Carlisle Corp. luxury hotel/condo project, No. 1 Beale. Because of the economic downtown, the project has been modified.

The BSL parking lot to be built in Tom Lee Park is not shown in the video.
For a map that shows the location of the boat dock, restaurant/ticketing area, and parking lot, click here.

[Click here to read more...]

Beale Street Landing - a white elephant already ? !

If you drive along Riverside Drive, you’ll see that work has started on Beale Street Lanindg (BSL). But the project is far from finished, and much more tax money is slated to be spent in the future. Meanwhile, Majestic America Line, the company that wanted to use the new boat dock, is in financial trouble, trying to sell their boats, and plans no trips for 2009 or any time in the future.

Looks like BSL could already be a white elephant.

Here's the Flyer article that broke the story and other information on the $29.4M public project.
Click here to read the Flyer article.
Click here to read Majestic America’s announcement.

Links for more information on BSL. Click to see
Overview of project - What, Where, Why, Who? Do we need it? Can we afford it?
Council votes to approve new boat dock
What it will look like and where it will be
An Update on BSL – the details
The 2008 Memphis Capital Improvement Project budget shows the total public cost of Beale Street Landing as $29,421,026 with $7,457,026 of that to come from federal grants. Included in the federal funding is $1M in 2004 Transportation funds under the Surface Transportation Program, $1,280,000 in a 2005 transportation appropriation under Ferry Boat Discretionary Program Awards, and $1,969,393 in a second transportation appropriation under Ferry Boat Discretionary Program Awards.
Could this be the real reason for the landing?

[Click here to read more...]

Beale Street Landing Underway

by Lynda Ireland

Over 200 Memphians gathered at the river under two large shade trees at the groundbreaking ceremony, highlighted by Reverend Benjamin Hooks’ blessing and Middle Baptist Church gospel choir’s lively rendition of “O Happy Day.” Mayor Willie W. Herenton mentioned a visit years ago by Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson who pointed out that Memphis has something Atlanta is missing: the Memphis riverfront.

Other speakers included RDC chairman Greg Duckett, City Councilor Barbara Ware whose 7th district includes the riverfront, and Captain William Lozier of Memphis Riverboats whose brief remarks concluded with a friendly horn blast from the Memphis Queen out in the channel. Speakers recognized Pat Kerr Tigrett as a pioneer in riverfront enhancement with the lighting of our Hernando DeSoto Bridge. A diverse audience was very enthusiastic, so perhaps other riverfront projects in which FfOR has strong interest, such as the Historic Cobblestone Landing, the Public Promenade, extending the Bluffwalk, and Mud Island River Park, may benefit from a groundswell of public awareness.

[Click here to read more...]

Council to look at $ for Beale Street Landing

Beale Street Landing(BSL) started out as a $10M idea to do something special at the foot of Beale Street. Since that time it has morphed into a $29.M public project.

Its need, cost, design, and intrusion into Tom Lee Park for land and parking are questioned by many. Project designers and proponents, on the other hand, describe it as "terraced islands descending to the river" and avoid questions about whether its real purpose is to serve as a boat dock for a "water taxi" to Tunica.

Since its inception, BSL has been controversial. Construction is scheduled to begin on landfill for the project this July and funding for other phases is currently being reviewed by the City Council.

Here are some links to information about the project and the continuing debate. click on the links below


Beale Street Landing - what, where, why, who,... Do we need it? Can we afford it?

Garage Gate, Part Two? The rationale for building Beale Street Landing is slipping away. By John Branston for The Memphis Flyer

What it will look like and Where it will be - BSL to pave section of Tom Lee Park S. to Vance for parking lot and cover section of Cobblestones

4 Problems with Beale Street Landing

BSL doesn't meet guidelines - Plan raises new questions

An Update on BSL - the details including letters to SHPO and illustrations of earlier plans for "something at the foot of Beale Street"

Beale Street Landing Revisions - Project Gets 106 Approval

A Ferry to Where?

Newspaper articles and documents relating to Beale Street Landing 1997-2008.

Information on Council votes:
What's happening at Beale $treet Landing?

Beale Street Landing cut in committee

Beale $treet Landing back in the budget

Whether we want it or not - Council votes to pay for boat dock

Dec. 18, 2007 City Council passes resolution to allocate $6M for Phase 2 of BSL

[Click here to read more...]

A Ferry to Where?

The federal $ going to Beale Street Landing is supposed to be for a ferry terminal. By definition a ferry goes from one side of a body of water to the other side in a location where there is no bridge, so the logical question has been: A ferry to where?

Benny Lendermon, president of the Riverfront Development Corp. (RDC) may have answered the questioned the other day. It doesn’t actually fit the definition of a ferry, but, according to Lendermon, “there’s an individual in Memphis, one person, who’s fairly serious about a water taxi going to Tunica from there.”

The night-time illustration of BSL makes it look like this may be part of the game plan.

For a long time, lots of people have been wondering why we’d build an expensive new boat dock. This may be the missing piece of the puzzle.

[Click here to read more...]

Update: BSL funding, Cobblestones, Ericson proposal

The City Council Parks Committee will meet at 12:30 Tuesday (Dec. 18) to consider a resolution to approve $6 million for Phase 2 of the Beale Street Landing project. In Phase 2: Steel pilings will be driven into the riverbed and landfill brought in to create four new acres for the project. (Much more below...)

The resolution will then go downstairs to the full City Council at 3:30 pm item #55 on the agenda). With all the upcoming membership changes on the Council, the City and RDC are pushing the project along for quick approval before the turn-over, and the resolution is expected to pass. The RDC hopes to put the work out for bid shortly after the first of the year and to start work in early spring.

The RDC has completed work on a new computer-generated "3-D" video of the project. One of our members got a sneak preview at the recent RDC board meeting. He says the video is remarkable in that it is actually an eye-level walk-through. For the first time, Memphians will get a chance to see the view as if standing within those pods.

The RDC promises to have the video on their website soon. It will probably be shown to the committee or the full City Council Tuesday. That might be an extra incentive for Memphians to attend.

The latest drawings of Beale Street Landing are not on the RDC website yet, but you can see them in the FfOR library. Click here. For an explanation of the revisions, click here.


Cobblestone Landing

Interestingly, we also learned at the RDC board meeting that there is already $6 million set aside for restoring the Cobblestone Landing. We'd like to see the City start doing it instead of just talking about it.

Mayor Herenton promised us the Cobblestone restoration in June, 1995. The City developed a preservation plan in December, 1995 (you can download and read it), pursuant to a Memorandum of Agreement with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office. The 2002 Memphis Riverfront Master Plan reiterated the central importance of the Cobblestone Landing. Why has nothing been accomplished in over a dozen years?


Ericson's Pyramid Adventure

In other news, you have probably heard about the Ericson Group's proposal for the Pyramid and Mud Island. Their plan for a theme park inside the Pyramid is not new, of course. What is new is that they want to take charge of Mud Island River Park as well, rehabilitating what's already there and adding: a second, 15,000-seat amphitheater on the Island tip; a floating maritime museum in the harbor; and a hotel (or possibly the Zippin Pippin) where the Memphis Belle pavilion now stands. Mud Island River Park would be renamed "Harbor Island."

The Pyramid complex would include 200,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space over the tracks adjoining Front St, and another hotel if the the I-40 ramp at Jackson Street can be removed or reconfigured. Longer term plans might include an aquarium at the Lone Star site, and an indoor/outdoor arcade connecting back to the Pyramid.

Contrary to rumors, there is no land bridge or lake in the plan.

Greg Ericson told the County Commission that his group wants to buy the Pyramid site outright, and build all of this entirely with private investment money. Officials from two investment groups representing commitments of $250 million attended the hearing last Wednesday.

Ericson's concept drawing of the plan is reproduced below. We've added our own annotations in red to help you decipher it. Click the drawing to enlarge it. Drawings of the Pyramid Adventure theme park can be found on Ericson's site.



Take a look and let us know what you think. Some of the ideas are intriguing. Who wouldn't like to see Mud Island River Park brought back to life and open year-round? And the Pyramid, we're all rooting for a good new use for it. One question is whether in this plan, Memphians would still have free access to their own public park on the island - and to how much of it? We look forward to further details and the government's due diligence.

By the way, the Commercial Appeal is inviting your thoughts on the Ericson proposal vs. the Bass Pro Shop idea for next week's Hot Button section. Responses due by the 19th

[Click here to read more...]

An Update on BSL – the details

At the request of the The TN Dept. of Transportation (TDOT), FfOR sent suggestions about ways to avoid or minimize the negative effect of Beale Street Landing on the unique historic integrity of the Memphis riverfront. We did a little research and came across some earlier plans that, with modification, just might solve the problem – give us an exciting public space at the water level, restore the Cobblestone Landing, and provide a place for commercial and private boats to dock.

Here is some background on the 106 process, FfOR’s letter to TDOT, illustrations of earlier designs, and links for more study.

Background on 106 process

• The Beale Street Landing project, as currently proposed, would be located within an historic district and would receive federal funding. As a result, federal law required that the project be reviewed by the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office (TN-SHPO).



• TN-SHPO determined that the proposed project would have a negative impact on the historic Cotton Row Historic District and Memphis Cobblestone Landing. The Cobblestone Landing is on the National Register and has been recommended for National Historic Landmark status.



• The TN Department of Transportation (TDOT), the state agency through which the federal funds would pass to Memphis, sponsored a consulting parties meeting in Memphis on Oct. 24, to discuss ways to avoid the adverse effects associated with the current design of Beale Street Landing.



• TDOT requested additional comments, and FfOR sent the following suggestions.

Nov. 7, 2007

Douglas Delaney, AICP
Assistant Chief Environment & Planning
Tennessee Department of Transportation
Suite 700 James K. Polk Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243-0349

Patrick McIntyre, Jr.
Executive Director, TN Historical Commission
Clove Bottom Mansion, 2941 Lebanon
Nashville, TN 37243-0442

Dear Mr. Delaney and McIntyre:

Friends for Our Riverfront supports the renewal of downtown Memphis and the restoration, preservation, and revitalization of the Memphis riverfront. We are committed to protecting the uniqueness of our city’s spectacular site on the Mississippi River and to improving and making the public spaces along the River more user friendly.

We have read and support the TN State Historic Preservation Office’s (TN-SHPO) finding that the Riverfront Development Corporation’s Beale Street Landing project, as proposed, will have a negative impact on the Memphis Cobblestone Landing, which is on the National Register and has been recommended for National Historic Landmark status.

As discussed at the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) meeting in Memphis on Oct. 24 and as presented in the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Historic Office (TN-SHPO) report, Beale Street Landing as currently proposed would be (1) built on top of a section of the historic cobblestone landing and (2) would alter the viewshed, slope, scale, and character of the historic landmark and adjacent historic district.

While the goal of providing a place for large riverboats to dock in the harbor at low water levels is an important consideration, it should be considered as part of the broader goal of restoring and reactivating the entire Memphis landing. An alternative design should be considered that would both protect our cultural resource and provide a point of access for large riverboats at low water levels.

In 1995, as a result of the disturbance of the cobblestones without required federal permits, the City of Memphis, the U. S. Corps of Engineers/Memphis District, the Tennessee State Historic Preservation Office, and the national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation signed a Memorandum of Agreement. In it the City committed to prepare an assessment of the landing as a historic resource and “a preservation plan as a guide for the continued viability of the site and the design and construction of future projects in the area of the Memphis Landing.” The Cultural Resource Assessment and Preservation Plan, City of Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, Part 2: Preservation Plan, p. 1 (CRP-2)

The Cultural Resource Plan includes general planning standards (p. 17) and recommends design solutions (p. 19-37). Many of these can and should be applied to the Beale Street Landing Project. The issues of verticality, scale, grade, boat access, and commercial use are all addressed. There is an illustration of how boats in the harbor can be used for restaurants and shopping. A point at the foot of Gayoso is suggested for docking large riverboats.

We make five specific recommendations:

1. Based on the Cultural Resource Plan standards, the height and solidity of the wooden pods proposed for Beale Street Landing (some as tall as 35’) should be reconsidered and replaced by earthen and limestone or other appropriate rock terracing and walkways. The grade and slope should respect and adhere to that of the cobblestone landing.

2. The location of the landing point for the large riverboats and its size should be reduced to that presented in the 2002 Riverfront Development Corporation Masterplan and/or that presented in the 1995 Cultural Resources Plan.

3. The new landing should not be built on top of the historic cobblestones, which extended to Beale Street.

4. The Memphis riverfront could best be addressed in an overall plan for restoration of the cobblestones and active use of the cobblestone landing rather than by reviewing two separate projects.

To elaborate further on point 4:

The Riverfront Development Corporation, in their masterplan, recognizes the cobblestone landing as “Memphis’ most treasured historic river resource.” The Cultural Resource Plan states that attention and activity should be focused on the cobblestones and that the stabilization of their western edge should be the top priority (CRP–2, page 19). It also says that in order to address accessibility issues “…it would be wise to link groups of new construction and alteration projects together as one…” (CRP-2, page 34).

We suggest that in order to avoid any future conflicting uses and in order to protect and energize the historic cobblestone landing, the entire Memphis landing should be considered and planned for as a whole with the role and design of a landing at Beale Street viewed as one part of the overall design and use as recommended in the 1995 Cultural Resource Plan. The restoration of the paving and grade along the western edge of the Cobblestone Landing is critically important for the survival of this historic resource and should not be eclipsed by a subsection plan for a new docking facility.

5. Finally, because of their past involvement and familiarity with the important historic value of the Memphis riverfront and because of City’s continued neglect as well as the subsequent continued deterioration of the cobblestone landing, we request that the national Advisory Council on Historic Preservation be brought in as a consulting party on this project.

Sincerely,
Virginia McLean
President, Friends for Our Riverfront

Enclosure: The Memphis Landing Cultural Resource Assessment and Preservation Plan, City of Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, Part 2: Preservation Plan

Copy:
U. S. Sen. Lamar Alexander
U. S. Sen. Bob Corker
U. S. Rep. Steve Cohen
Don Klima, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
Gary Fottrell, Federal Highways Administration, TN Division
Gerald F. Nicely, TN Dept. of Transportation
Jim Fyke, TN Dept. of Environment and Conservation
Rep. Mike Kernell
Rep. Barbara Cooper
Joe Garrison, TN Historical Commission
Martha Carver, TN Dept. of Transportation, Environmental Division

Many of FfOR’s comments are based on the 1995 "Cultural Resource Assessment and Preservation Plan," done for the City after cobblestones in the vicinity of Beale Street were removed without necessary permits. We also reviewed earlier plans for the Memphis Landing and comments on ways to protect, enhance and revitalize the riverfront made by Joseph P. Riley of Charleston, South Carolina; Charles Jordan, Chairman of The Conservation Fund; and Fred Kent, founder and president of Project for Public Spaces. (See Links to access documents.)


Illustrations from earlier plans; click on images to enlarge.

Earlier riverfront plans show restoration of the Memphis Landing as a docking point for both large riverboats and private boats and the harbor area as a site for restaurants and shops.

1987 Plan by Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown for Memphis Center City Commission


1995 Existing Conditions and Context, Memphis Landing Preservation Plan


1995 Concept Plan for a Commercial Floating Complex by Ritchie Smith for the Cultural Resource Preservation Plan


Celebration '96 - Riverfront Plan done for the City in 1996


















2002 Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) Masterplan


Docking and cobblestone detail from RDC Masterplan


Beale Street Landing as currently proposed


Links for more information. Click to see

The 2008 Memphis Capital Improvement Project budget shows the total public cost of Beale Street Landing as $29,421,026 with $7,457,026 of that to come from federal grants. Included in the federal funding is $1M in 2004 Transportation funds under the Surface Transportation Program, $1,280,000 in a 2005 transportation appropriation under Ferry Boat Discretionary Program Awards, and $1,969,393 in a second transportation appropriation under Ferry Boat Discretionary Program Awards.

Location and design of Beale Street Landing as currently proposed.

TN-SHPO’s comments on the adverse impact of the Beale Street Landing project.

Minutes from TDOT’s consulting parties meeting.

Memorandum of Agreement
http://river.freshbits.com/library/1995/05/memorandum-of-agreement-regarding.html

Cultural Resource Assessment and Preservation Plan, Part 2

Information on
Mayor Joseph P. Riley’s visit to Memphis, here and here.
Charles Jordan’s visit to Memphis, here and here.
Fred Kent’s visit to Memphis and comments on Beale Street Landing, here, here, here, and here.

[Click here to read more...]

BSL doesn't meet guidelines - Plan raises new questions

The TN Historical Commission has ruled that the RDC’s proposed Beale Street Landing project (BSL) will “adversely affect the Cotton Row Historic District.” Articles about the ruling in the Commercial Appeal, the Memphis Business Journal, and on several websites have raised new questions about the project and leave the old questions of need and location still up in the air.

Where will Beale Street Landing be?
According to the Commercial Appeal article, RDC President Benny Lendermon says BSL will be located between Tom Lee Park and the cobblestones. But based on the RDC’s current site plan, on top of Tom Lee Park and the cobblestones seems more accurate. Maybe the RDC’s new $20,000 3-D virtual tour, mentioned in the Business Journal article, will clear it up.

Maybe the virtual tour will give details about the RDC’s plan for the other end of Tom Lee Park, too. Jim Holt, president of Memphis in May (MIM) and member of the RDC board, told the Business Journal that over time, park changes have reduced Tom Lee’s size, and Beale Street Landing will do it again. To recapture some of the lost space, the RDC has proposed “gaining some space on the park’s southern tip, which hasn’t been usable because of a dramatic slope in the terrain. There has been talk of leveling,” he is quoted as saying, which raises questions about: Which dramatic slope is to be leveled? How? When? What’s the cost? Who will pay? What will MIM do in the meantime?

And equally important, what’s being planned for the historic cobblestones and when? Federal money for the restoration of the cobblestones was approved years ago, and the original RDC masterplan showed the cobblestones being restored down to Beale Street. So far the historic landing has been neglected, and today it is in worse condition than when the RDC was put in charge of the area. No details about plans for the cobblestones have been presented.

According to the newspaper articles, the next step is for the RDC and the TN Department of Transportation to meet with “stakeholders” to go over concerns and determine what changes are necessary for the project to comply with guidelines and be eligible for federal funding. Memphis Heritage and Friends for Our Riverfront are recognized "consulting parties," and we will let you know when we receive information about the meeting and process.

To access newspaper articles, blogs, and illustrations, click on the links below.

Newspaper Articles
All newspaper articles on BSL, including John Branston’s “Garage Gate Part II” for the Flyer, are in the FfOR library Freshbits and are listed chronologically.

Blog Posts
Free Ideas for Willie
Are you paying attention
Connecting people to the river
4 Problems with BSL
The Foot of Beale: An Alternative

Illustrations
Beale Street Landing renderings
RDC masterplan
RDC future riverfront

Articles on the FfOR website
Beale Street Landing - what, where, why, who, ... Do we need it? Can we afford it?
Whether we want it or not – Council votes to pay for boat dock
City Council vote – whether to spend $29M for new boat dock

[Click here to read more...]

"Buzzing" BSL in a satellite

Here's the picture that got people buzzing today:


We carefully traced the RDC architect's drawing of the Beale Street Landing complex onto a Google satellite photo of the riverfront. As you can see, BSL (yellow outline) will consume a portion of Tom Lee Park -- an area used to stage concerts during Memphis in May. On the north end, BSL also covers a portion of the lower Cobblestones.

Perhaps, most interesting is the comparison to the size of One Beale when that is built. (On satellite the photo, the One Beale project is outlined in blue.) There are more photos and drawings in our Library. (Also the link at the top of this page.)

By the way, the Memphis Flyer made a small goof when they posted their article: The site actually has nothing to do with the Memphis Public Library. We just call the site "The Library" because it's where we collect external news and commentary articles, official documents, and drawings and photos about our Riverfront. If you look closely at the photo in the upper left corner on the site, you'll see a group of people "gathering at the river" behind the Cossitt Library, which of course sits on the Public Promenade overlooking the Mississisppi.

Important note for "Mac" people: The site may appear to be gibberish when viewed in the Safari browser. That's due to a bug in Safari we haven't been able to discover or correct for. (But it looks fine in Safari 3 Beta on Windows.) If you have a Mac, try to use a different browser, such as Firefox or Mozilla. (Any Mac geeks out there who can solve this bug, we'd love to hear from you!).

[Click here to read more...]

BSL renderings

Most people haven't really seen what Beale Street Landing will look like in detail, except for the smallish pictures posted at the RDC's site. We're going to solve that problem.

We obtained from the RDC a large-format printed copy of the four artist renderings -- the same book of drawings they gave out to Council members and others last May. Our webmaster scanned them in high resolution, and then re-balanced the color a bit because the printing process the RDC used had made them too orangey. Those renderings are now posted in the Library.

Updated: We've also made some to-scale diagrams, overlaid on a satellite photo of the riverfront, so that you can see the scale and location of the project. All that and still more is in the Library.

There are links under each picture for you to download a high-resolution version that you can print out at up to 200 dpi on lettersize paper or 8x10 photo paper.

Click on over to the Library and take a look!

[Click here to read more...]

Whether we want it or not – Council votes to pay for boat dock

The Council Chamber was packed -- standing room only. But neither the size of the crowd nor impassioned pleas to cut Beale Street Landing, resonated with the City Council. The vote was 7 to 3, with one abstention, to spend $29.4 million of taxpayer money to build the new commercial boat dock.

Sue Williams, June West, Lynda Ireland, James Baker, Steve Sondheim, and Susan Caldwell presented persuasive arguments that the boat dock may not work, that federal approval has not been received, that the design has nothing to do with Memphis, and that the general public has many other higher priorities.

As Susan Caldwell said,

Beale Street Landing is not a small public project, and your vote today is important. $29.4 million is a lot money, almost half of what we paid for the Pyramid. And all of that is taxpayer money.

It has been estimated that each year it will cost $100,000 more just to operate the new boat dock. Where will that money come from?

The Med is gasping for breath. Swimming pools are closed. Students desperately need summer jobs. Everyday the newspaper’s front-page reports more crime. Neighborhoods cry out for speed bumps, parks, libraries, crime control, better schools, not for a new boat dock.

In fact, I have yet to hear one Memphian ask for a new boat dock.

My job is to recruit bright young people to work in Memphis. I can unequivocally say, that not one of them is making a decision on where to live based on a new commercial boat dock.

Two of the three commercial boat companies that dock in Memphis prefer landing on Mud Island and at the Cobblestones. The third is in financial trouble and has moved their headquarters to the West Coast. Whether or not we build a new dock, these companies will all continue to dock in Memphis.

I ask you to consider: What real community needs and future needs will be cut in order to build this project? What maintenance will be ignored? What libraries and parks will be closed?

Once built, this project will not go away.

I ask you to listen to the voices of those in your districts. If a new commercial boat dock is on the top of their list, then vote for this project.

But if they, like so many I’ve heard, think there are more important things to do with our money, better and more effective ways to improve the riverfront, don’t give a hoot about a new boat dock, and think we should first figure out how to improve Mud Island and fill the Pyramid, then I respectfully ask you to vote for a better future for our city and to remove this expensive new project from the budget.

Rickey Peete, who championed the project for years, has resigned, but Benny Lendermon, retired Director of Public Works for the City and now Executive Director of the Riverfront Development Corporation, the public-private body in charge of the project, argued that the boat dock go forward.

Councilmembers Brown, McCormick, Marshall, Lowery, Brittenum, Ford, and Swearengen-Ware voted for the project. Councilmembers Chumney, Jones, and Sammons voted against the boat dock. Councilmember Madeleine Cooper Taylor abstained. Councilmember Brent Taylor was not present for the vote.

The vote is not final until the minutes are approved at the next meeting, which is on June 19. If you’d like to let the Councilmembers know where you stand, you may e-mail them at this Web page.

See also: Gates of Memphis: 4 Problems with Beale Street Landing.

[Click here to read more...]

FINAL vote Tuesday -- whether to pay $29 million for new boat dock?

Right now $29.4 million is back in the budget to build a new commercial boat dock for the city. That's about 1/2 what we spent on the Pyramid.

This Tuesday, June 5, at 3:30 p.m. at City Hall, 125 N. Main, the Council will vote "yes" or "no" on the project. If approved, the RDC says work will start this fall.

The February Project for Public Spaces (PPS) newsletter took a look at “Waterfront Renaissance” and the opportunity waterfronts bring to create great public spaces that attract and inspire us?”

Does Beale Street Landing do that? Here's what PPS thinks.

In their draft report on Memphis, PPS says about our current Cobblestone Landing and Beale Street Landing:
Cobblestones – Beale Street Landing

The unique Cobblestone Landing offers a terrific opportunity to create a great destination with minimal investment and infrastructure.

Adding temporary seating, perhaps a food vendor, some public art that children can play on, perhaps a temporary water feature, a spot for private boats to tie-up, a barge restaurant, could start to develop some momentum here and give further clues about what more could work.

In the longer term, inexpensive wood platforms, shade structures (umbrellas, tents, trellises, etc.), water features and planters can help evolve this into a destination where the city meets the river.

The Beale Street Landing will not achieve the desired outcome unless the design is allowed to be more flexible and evolve with a strong plan to emphasize management and programming of the space. While perhaps well intended as a much needed riverfront destination, its expensive rigid design elements will likely preclude this section of the waterfront from becoming a valuable public space.

The design should come out of a community generated use plan and should be more temporary and inexpensive to support a range of changing uses. As this area becomes more successful, it may be that more money should be spent on design, but at that point it will be clearer what the design should support. The direction now seems to be a design that nobody will want and worse nobody will use.

Click here for more information about Beale Street Landing and to access what the Commercial Appeal and Flyer have said.

[Click here to read more...]

Beale $treet Landing back in the budget

The City Council is convinced that what Memphis needs is more glitz, this time in the form of a new commercial boat dock. On a motion by Councilmember Ricky Peete, $29.4-million is back in the City budget to build Beale Street Landing.

At the CIP wrap-up session on May 24th, few facts were discussed, but the Council was back in lock-step with the Administration to see that this project goes forward. As Peete, the Council’s former representative on the RDC Board, said, “We have to have some vision if we are going to be on a par with Atlanta.”

Councilmember Joe Brown seconded Peete’s motion.

There were two opposing voices: Councilmembers E. C. Jones, Chairman of the CIP Budget Committee, and Carol Chumney.

“I love the riverfront, but my constituents can’t get sewers,” Jones said. “Not one person from my district has called and asked for a new commercial boat dock.... Part of District 1 had to wait twelve years to get one street fixed. The Police Department needs a new helicopter, but we can’t find the money.”

It’s a “$29-million boondoggle, a glitzy project that’s not going to work out,” Chumney warned. “This is the type of choice that has gotten Memphis in the situation we’re in. We don’t have the riverfront we need because we haven’t taken what we have and made it work.” She suggested that a better approach to the riverfront would include figuring out what to do with the Pyramid and re-opening restaurants and shops on an under-utilized Mud Island.

Councilmember Scott McCormick shot back that “Mud Island is not under-utilized.” McCormick is the Council’s new representative on the RDC board.

It’s “current New World architecture,” said Councilmember Tom Marshall to support the design that had been criticized in committee.

Councilmember Dedrick Brittenum also supported the project, but pointed out that we need to balance infrastructure needs with new projects and that for the same amount of money we could get the new 911 Call Center we so desperately need. The Call Center is not in the budget.

The vote was not by roll-call, so it’s unclear where Councilmember Madeleine Cooper Taylor, who opposed the boat dock in committee, stood. But it was clear that Councilmember Barbara Swearengen Ware is for it and for the rest of the new riverfront development, too.

Councilmembers Sammons, Lowery, Taylor, and Ford were absent.

There will be three readings of the budget and a final full Council vote on June 5, but, as things stand now, we’re headed for another expensive project. It all seems so deja-vu. In the ‘80s we believed that a public-private plan for a Pyramid and tourist development of Mud Island were going to create the “Ninth Wonder of the World.” Click here to refresh your memory.

The questions remain: Do we need it? Can we afford it? Will it work? If you’d like to let the Councilmembers know where you stand, you may e-mail them at this Web page.

[Click here to read more...]

What's happening at Beale $treet Landing?

We got a copy of the proposed Capital Improvements budget, and to our surprise and consternation, the cost of Beale Street Landing has jumped from $29-million to $47-million. What happened?

We’ve heard it’s an error by the finance department. Well, $18-million is a pretty big error.

Work on Beale Street Landing is supposed to start this fall, and cost is not the only looming question about this project. The original thought was to have something special at the foot of Beale. The original cost estimate was $10-million. Now, at either $29-million or $47-million, Beale Street Landing is sucking up a lot of money that could be cleaning up the Public Promenade, completing the Bluffwalk, and restoring the Cobblestone Landing, to name just a few of the public’s top priorities for the riverfront.

We’ve been told that the underground parking garage is gone from the plan - replaced by surface parking in Tom Lee Park. Where exactly? We’re not sure, and how will it affect runners, bikers, walkers, and those who love the view from South Bluff? Engineers have questions [PDF, 289KB] about whether the floating dock will work. Who’s going to use it? Who’s going to maintain it?

In an interview airing during May on WYPL TV-18, Fred Kent, the founder of Project for Public Spaces, told John Branston,

it could be a serious mistake in my view. We looked at the drawings, and we saw an extremely expensive design statement. The sort of round pods at different ways may look interesting, and I’m sure will get some mention in design journals. … We kept looking, but it really comes down to what do you do there?

Whatever the answer, it’s going to be an expensive place to do it.

The City Council will vote on whether to approve funding for Beale Street Landing. If you want to send your questions or comments to Councilmembers, click here.

The budget is posted in the library.

To read the "Flyer" article "Garage Gate Part II" and FfOR's review of Beale Street Landing, click here.

[Click here to read more...]

Beale Street Landing - what, where, why, who, ... Do we need it? Can we afford it?

Work is scheduled to begin soon on a retaining wall that will allow construction of Beale Street Landing.
A recent article in the "Flyer" and an editorial in the “Commercial Appeal,” raised some serious questions and suggested Memphians take a closer look at the project before we spend $29.3million dollars on something we may no longer need or be able to afford.
Here is a "who, what, where" kind of look at the project.
Corrections and updated information (as of 11/11/08) have been added in red.

Where will it be?
Beale Street Landing will be built on the west side (or river side) of Riverside Drive, at the level of Tom Lee Park, and will stretch approximately from Beale Street south to the bluff steps at Vance Ave. It will cover a section of the original cobblestones that are now buried by debris, the northern end of Tom Lee Park, and new land that will be created by landfill. This space is not part of the dedicated Public Promenade, which is on the Bluff north of Union Ave.

What is it?

View of BSL from Mud Island. Click on image to enlarge.

Beale Street Landing will be a new, public, commercial riverboat landing and will include
· five “islets” on different elevations planted as park space with seating areas and water features, · wide stepped concrete areas descending to the river,
. a 480’ long floating dock,
· a circular ramp to connect with the floating dock,
· a grass-covered ramp under which will be a 13,000 sq. ft. glass-walled building for ticket sales, gift shop, and small restaurant,
· and an underground parking garage for 70 cars. The parking garage has been replaced by a "for pay" parking lot to be built in Tom Lee Park. The paved lot will cover about 2 football fields worth of parkland and extend down to Vance Ave.
At times during the year, as the river rises and falls, some of the islets and the parking garage will be underwater. A parking space for tour buses to unload will be built between the spiral ramp and the floating dock. The design for Beale Street Landing is by Javier Rivarola, Gustavo Trosman, and Ricardo Norton of RTN Architects, Buenos Aires, Argentina, winners of an international competition. Several local architectural firms are also participating in the project.

How much will it cost?
It's a public project, and the estimated cost is $29.3 million. Of that, $18.8 million will be paid for by Memphians in the form of general obligation bonds proposed to be issued in 2007, 2008, and 2009. The remainder, $10.5 million, is coming from the federal and state governments, partially earmarked in legislation for ferry boats and docks.

Do we need it?
Beale Street Landing was designed to serve as a commercial riverboat dock when plans were still in the works to build a 50-acre landbridge. The landbridge would have shrunk the harbor and removed the space where large boats now dock on Mud Island. (Click on image above to enlarge and see the harbor with and without the landbridge.) The landbridge is no longer part of the riverfront plan, so the question is -- do we now need a new commercial dock or should we consider less expensive alternatives like improving the landing we already have.

Who is in charge?
Beale Street Landing is a Riverfront Development Corporation project, but operation of the facility, after its construction, will be leased to a third party. Two under consideration are: the locally owned and operated Memphis Riverboats, Inc., which provides daily excursion boat trips in Memphis, and Delta Steamship Corp., which offers longer overnight trips and currently has approximately 60* landings in Memphis each year. According to their website, there were 16 landings in Memphis by Delta Steamship (now Majestic America) boats in 2008. Of those 10 were for passengers to join or leave cruises.

But there's a problem with that plan. Neither company seems likely to assume management responsibilities. Memphis Riverboats says the new landing will bring new problems, and Delta Steamship is not considering relocating in Memphis or assuming management of the facility. It is anticipated that these two companies will use the new landing, while a third company, River Barge Excursion Lines, which also offers overnight river trips to Memphis, prefers and will continue to land at Mud Island.

Where does it stand?
Last year, in the first of four construction stages, the Corps of Engineers dredged the channel to make it wide enough to accommodate the new landing and yet still allow boats to enter and leave the harbor.
The current second stage involves building a retaining wall and landfillfor the project.
Because Beale Street Landing will impact a historic site and federal funds will be used, the RDC is required to present a 106 review before beginning work. The 106 review is not yet available. The Landmarks Commission has voted approval of a certificate of appropriateness for new construction of the boat landing in the Cotton Row Historic Preservation District pending the results of the 106 review and the inclusion in the contract of a provision to store and replace any cobblestones damaged during construction. With modification, the design was approved by the TN Historic Commission.
Money has been approved by the City Council for this second stage of the project.
RDC requests for money for future phases are in the Capital Improvement Projects budget for years 2008 and 2009. They will require approval by the City Council.
There is additional information about Beale Street Landing in newspaper articles in our library. To access the library, click on "Library" in the upper right-hand corner of the menu bar at the top of this page.

[Click here to read more...]

RDC Changes CIP Budget Request

Even the RDC felt the pinch of this year's budget-tightening. Just prior to the presentation of their CIP request to the Council's CIP Budget Committee, some numbers changed. It was good news for the Public Promenade and Cobblestones and mixed news on the Beale Street Landing project.

On May 30, 2006 the Council CIP Budget Committee approved a revised request by the RDC. The main changes:

• $200,000 in general obligation bonds was cut for Riverfront Planning. The RDC's plan for private development of the Public Promenade falls under Riverfront Planning.
• $3,800,000 in federal money was added for restoration and improvements to the historic cobblestone wharfage.
• $ in the CIP for Beale Street Landing increased over the next 3 years, but the general obligation bond request for this year's budget (2007) decreased.

Council members were instructed by Committee Chairman Brent Taylor to look only at the amounts requested in the 2007 budget. Councilmembers did just that, and they were pleased to see a reduction in the amount the RDC was asking the City to back with general obligation bonds this year.

For Beale Street Landing, the amount requested this year from the City for construction was down $2,793,000. But, if you look at the request for general obligation bonds during the next 3 years, the local share of the cost for the landing increased $1,241,000, bringing the total City cost to $18,800,000. Coupled with $10,517,026 in federal and state money, the cost to taxpayers for Beale Street Landing will be $29,317,026.

At the CIP Budget Committee meeting there were no questions asked about the need, design, or financial viability of the boat landing. The only vote against approving the RDC CIP request was by Carol Chumney who mentioned environmental concerns about the Beale Street Landing project.

Here's the revised request for the Beale Street Landing Project. Click on image to enlarge.

[Click here to read more...]