Ride the Zippin Pippin, Part 0.2!

If you haven't seen the news, Save Libertyland now owns the Zippin Pippin. In honor of that, I present the next version of my Zippin Pippin work-in-process animation, now with color, some texture, a sky, all in horrible low-resolution!

Click on the image at the bottom of the post to get a little higher-quality vision.

Getting back to reality, the good news about the Zippin Pippin: if it survives, it will survive in Memphis. The bad news: survival isn't assured.

The people who bought the Pippin and have now given it Save Libertyland did not buy the land under the coaster. That still belongs to the City of Memphis. To date, the city has been random at best, antagonistic at worst, to the efforts of Save Libertyland to do as their name states. I hope the city can see the imaginative value of keeping the Pippin and the Carousel in the fairgrounds redevelopment. (I have always envied Alvy Singer for living under a roller coaster at Coney Island).

This Flyer article mentions that SL is also talking to Elvis Presley Enterprises about preserving the ride. This is great, although EPE hasn't been particularly active in preserving Elvis' physical legacy outside of Graceland's gates. Hopefully this will change, but if it doesn't, perhaps they can enlist Elvis fans and fan clubs around the world in the efforts to preserve the ride (and the Chisca too).

Anderton's East, The Pearl of Madison

Here are some shots of the really great terra-cotta commercial building formerly known as Anderton's East at 1901 Madison. It has something for everyone: beauty, character, location, parking, a great neon sign left behind by its longtime occupant.



I even like the Rat Pack Modern entrance that now looks as ancient as the ornament that it covered (but doesn't appear to have destroyed).


I've only been inside once, a long time ago, but I seem to remember a very retro lounge atmosphere -- perhaps matching the entrance. Could be wrong about that though.




It would be an awesome building for an entrepeneur who has, and wants more, style.

The Movement Called Save Libertyland

It's amazing the amount of work the group called Save Libertyland have produced. They have:

• saved the Carousel, a 100-year old treasure of Memphis that the Mid-South Fair would have sold if not for Save Libertyland.
• produced all of these videos.
• produced all of these events.
• created a blog whose exhaustive communication puts the non-profits and yes-profits in Memphis, and their professional communications staff, to shame.
• produced 2 citizen-politicians, Steve Mulroy and Denise Parkinson.
• And last but not least, this movie by Memphis auteur John Michael McCarthy.

And that's all I can think of. There's almost certainly more.

For its part the City of Memphis has

• gutted Libertyland -- in other words, destroyed.
• paid a consultant $27,000 to produce this report [pdf!] and some architectural illustrations. The report is interesting and is neutral on the issue of Libertyland (it is one of the possible uses). However, I don't think the City has implemented a single idea in the report.
  

Outside of that, they haven't built, or conceptualized, or visualized anything, except maybe in their own head. Even a new stadium, a $150 million dollar undertaking at the least, has almost no specifics or visuals attached to it.

Citizens without much money have done much. Politicians and bureaucrats with much money and much power have done little -- nothing! And I'm being charitable because destruction is less than nothing.

I don't think Save Libertyland is an isolated phenomenon. I think they're the Memphis vanguard of a movement. It's a movement that an MIT conference, Beyond Broadcast 2007, just finished addressing. The conference's hypothesis, that the skills that emerge in the course of participating in pop culture can become powerful forces when translated into tools of civic engagement is a template for Save Libertyland, 'cept SL predates that hypothesis.

Long Live Libertyland!

Ride the Zippin Pippin! Part 0.1

This is an animated wireframe "sketch" of a 3D model I'm building, from photos, my wife's memory (she rode it about a thousand times) and Google Earth images, of the Zippin Pippin, Memphis' rollercoaster (and Elvis' favorite)

Besides the fact that it's wireframe and incompletely modeled to boot, I'm still working on the timing of the drops and stops and starts. Here's a look at an early textured still.



I want to do more of this stuff as part of this blog. I'm a big believer in visual persuasion.

Making with Blender 3D!

Update: read last week's CA article for more details on the Zippin Pippin's fate.

Save Libertyland News Conference Monday

From Denise Parkinson of Save Libertyland:

Save Libertyland!, the local community organization that has for 15 months worked to re-open Memphis's historic park, will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. Monday, January 29, at Libertyland, to unveil a workable alternative to what has become a vacant crime-magnet in the heart of Midtown.

1) Thanks to the efforts of Save Libertyland, not only has the National Historic Landmark Carousel been saved, but also the Zippin Pippin as well! Find out the details! There is still an outstanding offer by a successful park operator to re-make Libertyland into a modern recreational destination.

2) Save Libertyland has consulted with local and regional alternative fuel technology companies to draft a "green" vision for the park which will convert Libertyland into an Interactive Educational Park for Energy Independence. Similar in scope to Alabama's successful Space Camp, Libertyland can be a model for educating the public on alternative fuel uses in a theme-park setting. Think solar-powered Stax Soul Music; biofuel-powered amusement rides. We have the technology!

3) The National Carousel Association, in recognition of the hard-won battle to save Memphis's priceless Grand Carousel, is considering Memphis as the site of their 2008 National Convention -- so the clock is ticking. Save Libertyland has a plan that provides an alternative to the city's 3-year process which will leave the vulnerable park vacant. For the price of moving the Grand Carousel and Pippin, the MidSouth could have a premier park instead.

We have support. We have a vision inclusive to all Memphians. We challenge the city to support justice for Memphis's historic park and end its downward spiral into vacancy, crime, and neglect.

"An interactive educational park such as Libertyland is a very effective means of raising the public awareness of how the US can achieve energy independence. Bioenergy is already mainstream in many parts of the country. Other energy sources now considered alternative fuels will soon be major fuel sources. Libertyland can enable countless people to learn how to add to the demand that brings these other fuel sources into the mainstream. Patriot Biofuels, Inc. would appreciate any opportunity to join Libetyland in its energy independence efforts." -- Mr. Cal McCastlain, Patriot Biofuels.

Press conference:Senior councilmember E.C. Jones wants to evaluate the latest damage, a giant crater in the center of the park, dug by the Midsouth Fair this past week. Please note the change and thank you for your patience!
For more info, contact Denise Parkinson at 276-0346

If you can't make it, they're hoping to videotape it and post it at Memphis Magnet.

Whether you agree with Save Libertyland or not, it has a Vision. Everything coming from City Hall lately about the Fairgrounds is either vague (mixed-use redevelopment, Legacy Park, new stadium) or schizo (No! Yes! Maybe! No! You can't have an amusement park! No! Yes! Maybe! No! You can't use the Coliseum for high school graduation!).

For Sale: Sears Crosstown

The Memphis Business Journal and the Commercial Appeal both report that the Sears Crosstown building is for sale. The firm marketing the building, Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, is emphasizing its redevelopment possibilities. Very heartening!

Here's HFF's overview on the Sears building. You can also read their executive summary on the property [for once I forgive use of a pdf].

Okay, you random Googlers! Tell your friends, tell yourself. Here's your chance to purchase the most undervalued building in Memphis, if not America! It's art-deco cathedral of commerce, surrounded on 3 sides by appreciating neighborhoods and on the 4th side by a commercial district long in the tooth, but architecturally sound. It has parking, it has land, it has lots of space, it has beauty. You can put your logo in beautiful glowing neon letters atop the tower for all of Memphis to see.

Here's an earlier post I wrote on it and a beautiful photo by amiev on flickr.

And I've brought the tower back as my background image.

House of Mews Updates

Update uno: The House of Mews has a letter on their home page explaining what they need for the move. They are also very gracious to the folks kicking them out, which is nice.

Here it is:

January 17, 2007

Dear Friends of Mews,

WE NEED YOU NOW MORE DESPERATELY THAN EVER BEFORE……………..

Our new landlords have notified us that we are to vacate our building by March 2007. We are the last in line of all the tenants to be vacated. Our landlord was good enough to let us know that eventually it would be our turn, but that for the time being (the last 2 years) we were welcome to stay as “ we were considered an asset to the community". The property owners have plans for all of the buildings they own to the north of ours, which include serious upgrading and new tenants who can afford much higher lease rates. As a businesswoman, I understand return on investment on one's property is key. Nevertheless, it saddens me, as we have been a part of the Cooper Young Community for well past 11 years and will be forever grateful for the kindness of the community and our supporters, including the owners of our space.....where well over 7,000 homeless cats have been cared for and adopted and people from all over the world have visited.

Now for the really tough part......we MUST move by March 2007! Here, we once again ask for the support of our "Friends of Mews". You have already given us much.....you send us money, you volunteer and work hard in our store, you bring in & donate tons of supplies to alleviate our burdens and make life easier. We hope you will want to help us again. We NEED YOU. The House of Mews has not survived because of one person alone, but by many who have been dedicated over the years. Here's how you might help:

1. Are you a realtor who knows a possible space, a storefront with windows, a small older home
in a commercial area for lease, possibly for sale?.
2. Are you someone who would consider being our landlord, buy a small space in a commercial area as an
investment and let us pay the mortgage payments as rent?
3. Can you sign up to foster or adopt ONE or TWO Kitties during our transition?
4. Are you willing to help paint, tile or decorate with us?
5. Can you help us move, or help us clear our building in some small way?
6. Can you help get the word out to your friends and family that we are looking for help QUICKLY?
7. CAN YOU DONATE $ to help keep us going during this transition?

We must start anew, a smaller space, about 1500 s.f....we are ready to size down, the current space has been a huge workload of 3000 s.f. which I must care for by myself when I don't have enough volunteers.......we have already lowered our number of kitties from 170 to just under 100. We pray for a nice little space without any huge remodeling expense and nice big windows for the kitties to lay in the sun and look out the windows just as they have for 11 years here on Cooper....that and hopefully a place where many people walk/drive/visit so we are seen and our homeless kitties can be adopted. Without this, we might as well close our store..............location is still the most important ingredient for success. We know beggars can't be choosers, but then, we don't want to be thought of as beggars, unless of course,that works!
We thank you for helping in whatever way works best for you, please contact me immediately if you can assist us. Time is of the essence, as we will all be magicians if we can pull this one off!

Sincerely,

Elain Harvey
Founder & Managing Director
Direct Access # (901) 489-7938 Email: houseofmew@aol.com

Update dos: on this thread at the Goner Message Board, member Alisa reports that "Burke's is not moving into the House of Mews. It's moving into the end of the row across the Tsunami parking lot. Apparently, overhead is much lower...which makes sense." It sounds like the same row of shops, but not that particular space. Which is good for Burke's, since you don't want to be the one kicking the kitties out. But does that mean then that the HOM eviction is a speculative eviction?

Poetry Rhythm and Soul This Saturday

Poetry Night (including open mic)
When: January 20, 2006
Where: Galloway Church Cafe
Address: 1015 South Cooper at Walker (in Cooper-Young)
Admission: Free, but Donations Are Welcome
Time: 7:00 PM

This is an event put on by the Fleming Brothers and friends. The first event last October featured a duet between filmmaker Keenon Nikita and his daughter, her first public performance. A star of a star was born that night. And that was just one of many excellent performances.

Big Stinking Mistake in Cooper-Young

If you want to see the embodiment of loss leader, it's the House of Mews in Cooper-Young. A very unique non-profit that has been there for at least 10 years, they're a huge part of that neighborhood's feel and its success. I know quite a few people who make a trip to the House of Mews a regular part of their trips to Cooper-Young, and dine at Cooper-Young just so they can stop by there afterwards. And when I say "stop by", I don't mean get in their car and stop by. I mean walk up and walk in.

And now the House is getting booted so some landlord (could it be the same landlord who has pioneered the growth of empty storefronts and massive unused parking lots in Overton Square?) can triple the rent: from $1000 to $3000 month. 300%. Not a nice profit. A mega-stinking-profit.

This is the 2000's version of The Center for Southern Folklore being booted from Beale Street to make room for Wet Willie's Daquiri Bar, or Burkle's Bakery in Overton Square being booted for something (I don't know what it was, but it's long gone and there is no tenant there now.) And I realize the tenant that's moving in is not Wet Willie's -- it's Burke's Bookstore.

Beware, Cooper-Young! With decisions like this coming from people like that, Wet Willie's and over-priced, underoccupied storefronts may not be far behind.

Don't blame the cats. This crap is man-made.

A Letter to Target

Robert J. Ulrich
Chairman of the Board and
Chief Executive Officer
Target Corporation

Dear Mr. Ulrich,

Memphis has recently learned that we're to get a new Target store in the area of Memphis called Crosstown. There's been much discussion as to whether Target would choose a suburban design -- a box warehouse surrounded by asphalt parking lot -- for this location. I'm writing you to ask that Target build a store that will embody, in your aisles and in our streets, your corporate emphasis on great design and is mindful of the urban setting you have chosen for your store.



Crosstown is a section of Memphis that was originally an early 20th century trolley suburb, full of bungalows, shotgun houses and 2-story family homes and small-scale commercial buildings (I've enclosed photos of some nearby examples). However the area had declined substantially from the 1960s, when a urban freeway sliced through its heart, demolishing many of these structures, and another planned (but never completed) freeway resulted in the demolition of many more. Businesses closed. Cheaply made apartment buildings replaced houses. Neighborhoods not destroyed began a long decline. Where you plan on building your new store is one of those neighborhoods.


Memphis has only recently stopped this decline. A big part of the comeback has been the infill of homes in the area where the unbuilt freeway demolished homes. At the insistence of community leaders, the rebuilt homes were built to the aesthetic standards of the neighboring undemolished homes. The scars left by the unbuilt freeway have healed thanks largely to the design quality of these rebuilt homes. Other factors are the diverse community who have settled and stayed in that area, and a new downtown to Crosstown trolley system that Memphis added whose terminal is just 2 blocks from your proposed site.


I speak for no one but myself, but I nevertheless ask that as you design the new store, you consider how you can help further transform and revitalize Crosstown Memphis (as well as attract customers) through beautiful, affordable and place-conscious design. Just as Target transformed itself by growing through design, you can help do the same with this area of Memphis. I hope that you will consider my request.

Respectfully,

The Gates of Memphis