The Ascent of King Edward
A forlorn beauty when I passed it a year ago,
Jackson's King Edward Hotel was in the middle of a vibrant restoration when I passed by again last week.
The King Edward has been empty since 1967, for 40 years before its restoration began late last year. In comparison, our own great Hotel Chisca closed as a hotel in the early 1970s, but was occupied as headquarters by the Church of God in Christ until the early 1990s.
Let's wish the developers, who include Deuce McAllister, the greatest success on their work. Afterwards we can invite them to take the train up to Memphis, for a visit to Main and Linden.
Jackson's King Edward Hotel was in the middle of a vibrant restoration when I passed by again last week.
The King Edward has been empty since 1967, for 40 years before its restoration began late last year. In comparison, our own great Hotel Chisca closed as a hotel in the early 1970s, but was occupied as headquarters by the Church of God in Christ until the early 1990s.
Let's wish the developers, who include Deuce McAllister, the greatest success on their work. Afterwards we can invite them to take the train up to Memphis, for a visit to Main and Linden.
Labels: architecture, historic preservation, Jackson, Memphis, redevelopment, Stop Demolishing Our Economic Advantage
posted by gatesofmemphis at 11:44 PM
2 Comments:
Why does COGIC own so much downtown property if they aren't going to do anything with it or at least sell it? A lot of the buildings along Main and nearby that have fallen into disrepair are owned by COGIC. It's hard for developers and business owners to revitalize the area when there are large parking lots that with 2 foot tall weeds and crumbled up asphalt or empty buildings with the windows painted over.
Elaine, I believe you would call that speculation.
Nevertheless, there's a developer for the parking lot behind the Chisca (on 2nd) to build a hotel.
COGIC had used the building for a while, but as the King Edward shows, things long dormant can come back to life.
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