new downtown stadium/cc idea

[TRB]

With renewed talk of Memphis possibly getting invited to a BCS conference with FedEX promising sponsorship roles with it, my ideal of a location of a Stadium and Cook Replacement combo off of Beale.

 

[TRB]

This is simple and Cate's yurts ain't it.

For Mud Island

New home of a new Memphis Zoo Aquarium,  encourage dual visitation at the both the zoo and aquarium make use of Island parking, connect the two via trolley.

Either upgrade the museum of replace with an aquarium. I prefer keeping it but showing it some love all in addition to an aquarium. Update it with modern tech and add an up charge attraction based on the Disney Epcot ride Soarin' that takes riders on a trip down the Mississippi complete with smells of BBQ over Memphis, linen over cotton fields, ect.

Add ride to the northern end. A ferris wheel, a Star Flyer and a roller coaster all similarly themed and painted,  enclosed carousel building with 3 to 4 more kiddie rides, and three to four smaller outdoor rides. About a dozen in total. See Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen for the look and feel. Notice how the rides are painted and themed similarly.

Update Riverwalk.

Update Amp, add video boards, bathrooms, support facilites, additional seating and an open air covering giving it a Sydney Opera House type impact on the skyline. Surrendering outdoor concerts to Southhaven is a major fail.

Add a Christmas Market/Village to the Gulf area. Use removable 10x10 types booths decorated to the season for vendors up and down the Riverwalk and around the Gulf. Have a huge Chrismas Tree(100ft?) that performs a lighting and music show. Deck the Island out in lights, add a permanent structure south of the Gulf that does as an ice rink in the winter and splash pad in the summer (see Elkhart Indiana)

Build foot bridge to Beale Street Landing

This makes the Island a year round  attraction with something for everyone. Add in some smaller details like additional restaurants/eateries, keep it free entry for the basic museum and park, only charge al a carte for rides , museum upcharge attractions, ice rink, and monorail or sell combo packages.

The Convention Center wants 900 million in upgrades, that's 200 million more than the Music City Center cost. Why not build a new CC/stadium combo between 4th, Union, Beale and Lauderdale  using sky bridges to cross Danny Thomas. This puts the convention scene right on Beale, Tiger Games,  the Southern Heritage Classic and Liberty Bowl in party central. It would guarantee some big hotel building. It opens up Memphis for other events like later rounds of the NCAA tourney and if Memphis gets a Big 12 invite, conference championships in baseball, basketball and maybe football.  It also gives the Convention center over 125,000 square ft of columnless exhibition space vaulting it into a possible top 20 convention center to promote.