The 901: Memphis finally gets the Tom Lee Park revamp plan it deserves

Good Thursday morning from Memphis, where the ACLU is suing the Shelby County Sheriff's Office in a bid to release older and medically vulnerable detainees. Meanwhile, local restaurants are pleading for business. But before we get to ...

After months of uncertainty, the plan to redevelop Tom Lee Park is back on track.

After a mayor-ordered mediation last year between the public park's manager, Memphis River Parks Partnership, and the organizers of the Memphis in May International Festival, the redevelopment plan was retooled around the festival's needs, our Katherine Burgess reports. The new plan calls for large, open lawns for the festival — but also new amenities meant to increase the use of the park in the other 11 months of the year.

So, what's new? For one thing, the plan divides the park into four "zones": The Civic Gateway, The Active Core, The Community Batture, and The Habitat Gardens. Our Katherine has more about what each of those mean (so read her story), but highlights of proposed new amenities include a sandbar beach, tree groves and a raised walkway.

Check out the latest renderings here:

As Katherine points out, the plan addresses many of the concerns raised in mediation:

In the revised plans, three lawns meet or exceed the required amount of square footage needed to host Memphis in May's signature events, the Beale Street Music Festival and the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, according to the mediation agreement. Built into the plans is also a smaller river lawn. The lawns are also spaced far enough apart to keep music from concert stages from overlapping.

This is the compromise plan Memphis deserves — should have had months ago. The revised plan gives the festival everything it needs to continue to be a top-class, world renowned, rapidly growing billboard for the city, but also transforms a ho-hum park into a year-round destination. Maybe it's not on the grand scale of MRPP's original, pull-out-the-stops plan — but this revised version seems much more reasonable and doable. 

The trick now is to find the money to pay for everything. Katherine has more on the funding, including this summary of where the financing of the project is now:

Currently, Memphis River Parks Partnership still needs to raise about $19 million in private dollars for the project. $30 million comes from state, county and city government funding, while about $11 million in private funding has already been raised.

If you're looking for more information, the plan's designers walked through the details in a Daily Memphian video yesterday:

ACLU, others sue county for releases

As the novel coronavirus spreads through prisons and jails across the country, raising civil rights concerns, Shelby County is facing a lawsuit for not releasing some detainees.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, Memphis-based Just City and others filed a class action lawsuit against the Shelby County Sheriff's Office yesterday in a bid to free detainees at high risk of dying of COVID-19 because they're older than 55 or have medical conditions, per our Micaela Watts and Daniel Connolly.

As Micaela and Daniel point out, citing a Tennessee Department of Correction report, the vast majority of people detained at 201 Poplar (86%) are pre-trial — meaning they haven't been convicted yet. And many are only there because they can't afford bond:

"It is especially cruel that most of the people at great risk of infection in the jail would not be there if they had financial resources," wrote Just City's executive director, Josh Spickler. 

But that just scratches the surface of what's in our story (read it), which goes into detail about the living conditions of detainees at county facilities, what Sheriff Floyd Bonner has done to improve them, and what still needs to happen according to the lawsuit.

Memphis eateries plead for business

Two weeks after Shelby County allowed restaurants to reopen, owners of local eateries yesterday asked their customers to return as well, our Desiree Stennett reports.

Here's Ernie Mellor, president of the Memphis Restaurant Association and owner of Hog Wild Catering, making the case for people to once again begin frequenting restaurants:

As dining rooms continue to reopen, Mellor said restaurants have taken precautions to keep their guests and their staffs safe. Now, he is imploring customers to come back so restaurants across the city can survive.

"Our message today is clear," Mellor said. "We are open and we need your business."

This is a tough situation for everyone involved. For owners because their businesses are foundering. For staff because their work and tips are cut. But also for customers because dining in during a deadly pandemic is such a risky endeavor — especially when some bad actors are only loosely following the city's social distancing rules. 

Whether you decide to heed Mellor's call or stick with ordering takeout, it's important to support local businesses as you can, if you can. But if we're taking bets, I'd bet that Memphis' appetite for dine-in service won't return for weeks, if not months, to come.

Speaking of local restaurants: In a bid to boost sales, local restaurants are starting to add boozy slushie cocktails to their menus, our Jennifer Chandler reports.

What else is happening in the 901

• For subscribers: Our Jason Munz considers how DeAndre Williams would complement the Memphis Tigers basketball team next season — if he's granted a waiver to play. (And if you aren't a subscriber, please consider becoming one.)
• Our Katherine Burgess has more detail about how Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland plans to use federal COVID-19 relief funds. One of those uses, as mentioned in yesterday's column, will be to expand hazard pay for city employees.
• In a step toward restarting college sports, the NCAA Division I council voted yesterday to allow voluntary athletic activities for football, men's basketball and women's basketball to start next month, our Jason Munz reports.
• The Paradise Entertainment Center in Downtown Memphis — a venue played by such greats as Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Elvis and Tina Turner — will get a face-lift thanks to a $50,000 grant from the Downtown Memphis Commission's Center City Development Corp., our Desiree Stennett reports. The CCDC also awarded a $50,000 grant for exterior renovations for Tom Martin's auto shop in Downtown. Separately, Desiree also reports that a 127-unit apartment building is planned near the soon-to-be-redeveloped Fairgrounds.
• Our Bob Mehr has all of the details about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's special livestream event “Prom from Home: Under the Living Room Lights" this Friday. Kane Brown and Lewis Capaldi are among the artists slated to perform.
• Our Laura Testino has the county health department's advice for staying safe during this Monday's annual Memorial Day gatherings.
• Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves walked right into this one.

The Fadeout: Don Bryant's latest

At 78, Memphis' Don Bryant still has it. 

The elder statesman of the Memphis music scene has seen a resurgence in popularity since the songwriter's return to the role of front man in his acclaimed 2017 album "Don't Give Up on Love." With his new song "I Die A Little Each Day," Bryant continues building steam as he prepares to debut his next album, "You Make Me Feel," next month...

Like The Fadeout? Check out The 901's Spotify playlist

Columnist Ryan Poe writes The 901, a running commentary on all things Memphis. Reach him at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter @ryanpoe.

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