Overton Square Meeting this Tuesday
Memphis Heritage is hosting a 2nd meeting about the future of Overton Square. Be there-- because your voice makes a difference!I believe any project built in Overton Square should, at the very least:
December 2, 2008
3:30-5pm @ MHI Headquarters, Howard Hall, 2282 Madison
Bring your thoughts, ideas and creative minds. Bring along your neighbor and let's put our heads together to save what was once and can be again the heart of Midtown!
- increase the walkability of the neighborhood.
- preserve and restore the urban form to the Madison and Cooper sides.
- build to an aesthetic standard equal to the Idlewild and East End neighborhoods (not Union!!!).
- build to a aesthetic and urban standard that complements the investments made by neighboring businesses, like Playhouse on the Square, Bosco's, Maggie's Pharm, Mr. Lincoln's Costume Shop, etc.
- build to a aesthetic and urban standard that strengthens the Heart of the Arts.
Labels: architecture, co, midtown, Overton Square, placemaking, redevelopment
posted by gatesofmemphis at 10:11 PM
6 Comments:
I would love to attend these meetings, but Memphis Heritage makes it impossible for me (and I'm sure a lot of other people) by starting at 3:30 p.m. on a Tuesday. Does no one have a regular ol' 9to5 job anymore except for me???
I completely agree with Leslie -- these afternoon meetings are almost impossible to make for those of us with day jobs. I would think that a 5.30 meeting would have much better attendance, especially from those of us in the working class!
Same goes for this bloke. 3:30 is in the middle of my work day too.
Too bad.
I agree with you guys completely and will pass it along (hopefully MH will read it themselves). I won't be able to make the meeting either.
I was just tooling around the internet and came across the announcement. Thanks MH for not inviting me, despite the fact that I operate Midtown Bike Company, established in 1980 and located in Overton Square for the past six years. I have also been a resident of Midtown for over 15 years and a Memphian for 23+ years as well as Secretary for the short lived OSBA (Overton Square Business Association). OSBA would have had great success had the Out of Sate Landowner and asociated "LLC's" backed our efforts and fully supported the "Square". TGI Friday's and parties involved failed to see eye to eye when Friday's lease renewal came about. That was essentially one of the last nails in the coffin. Hammered in by "Greed". One by one businesses left. It's a sad shame. You should hear the stories customers recite to me about the good times, the history, and the memories. Stories about Friday's in the Square being the first franchised Friday's ever. The original Friday's restaurant and bar, burned to the ground a long time ago, was so well liked by the son of a wealthy, local Coca Cola bottler, they brought it to Memphis in 1969, I believe, right around the time the city allowed the sale of alcohol at such establishments. I think the history of "Ladies Night" started there, at least according to the crazy tales I have been told. Businesses soon followed, like the Bombay Bicycle Club, Swensen's Ice cream, an ice skating rink, Mortimer's bike shop, and in time, Comedy Club, Ciao, Public Eye, Cancun, Memphis Pizza Cafe, and a whole host of others I can't quite recall or simply do not know. Imagine the stories and the memories. I have many of those as well. I caught the "Sqaure" in the late eighties as a teenager and there I remain, uncertain of my future, Overton Square's future, and the future of Midtown, Memphis' "Front Porch Community".
Mmm...yes - having a meeting at 3:30 on a weekday is stupid and is almost like the Memphis Heritage group doesn't want citizens to attend. I have always wanted a breakdown on this group's progress. Overton Square could be a great place but there are so many factors and people keeping it from being a great central shopping district. It makes me so mad to see the Square empty. And it is indeed empty. The few, and I mean few places open are just there. They seem so disconnected. And that big parking lot is just awful.
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