The "New" Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

[TheExtraEastKid]

This is so ridiculous, the Riverbluff they want to protect was destroyed longtime ago.

If they were really about protecting the Bluffs, most of which are still accessible, they would've had that ugly parking garage and fire station moved.

I could understand the outcry if it was a private hotel/ condo/ office building being developed.

But its a public art gallery. 

I get the felling they want a "under the table" deal.

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

1 hour ago, Memphis4ever said:

The project is not stalled the friends of our riverfront group wants then to extend the bluff walkway to connect to the museum 's rooftop park.  The project also is not stalled when you here that a permit was filed that means the project was submitted to code enforcement for review, meaning it will take a few months for the project to actually be approved by code and start construction.  Its deceptive but the project is going to be built its just in code review at the moment.

I hope you are right! Good news, if so.

1 hour ago, MDC26 said:

Looking at their Facebook page, makes me think they'd prefer the museum not be built at all, but at the least are hoping to settle for some kind of connection.  They posted this:

 

Friends for Our Riverfront

Don't let anyone tell you it's too late. There's a long-standing easement that protects our right to "promenade" along the Riverbluff.

We're in talks with the City and headed for formal mediation mid-July to make sure Brooks Museum doesn’t block the route.

This is nuts. So this group would rather the museum not be built at all, so they can have a path to the river? 

Some people seem a bit overly entitled.  

It seems like the riverfront is large enough for other options and pathways for enjoyment. Why target this museum construction in a prime downtown location? There's probably context that I just am not aware of, too.

[MDC26]

2 hours ago, TheExtraEastKid said:

This is so ridiculous, the Riverbluff they want to protect was destroyed longtime ago.

If they were really about protecting the Bluffs, most of which are still accessible, they would've had that ugly parking garage and fire station moved.

I could understand the outcry if it was a private hotel/ condo/ office building being developed.

But its a public art gallery. 

I get the felling they want a "under the table" deal.

The original city compact designated the riverfront as a "public promenade."

I don't think a full promenade along the riverfront was ever built.  Seven years after the original compact, Overton filed legal paperwork to go into detail regarding this.  

“In relation to the piece of ground laid off and called the ‘Promenade,’ said proprietors say that it was their original intention, is now, and forever will be, that the same should be public ground for such use only as the word imports, to which heretofore, by their acts, for that purpose, it was conceived all was relinquished for themselves, their heirs, etc., and it is hereby expressly declared, in conformity with such intention, that we, for ourselves, heirs and assigns, forever relinquish all claims to the same piece of ground called the ‘Promenade,’ for the purpose above mentioned.”

This was the legal basis going forward.  It has basically be interpreted that it shall only be used for public purposes.  The original city limits ended at Union, so this was as far South as the "public promenade" went, and not sure where the Northern boundary was.  The general interpretation has been that the areas can only be used for public use, and not sold to a private owner.  Since then, it has been used for parks (4th Bluff/River Garden), parking garages, fire station, post office, library, city dump, custom house, Law School, Tennessee Welcome Center, Convention Center, parking lots, road/interstate ramps.  An exception was made to sell a portion on the northern end to the US Navy for a naval yard.  They in turn sold it to someone else, and then the Pyramid got built there.  I don't know if the Lonestar Concrete plant was originally part of the Naval yard too, but the city has reacquired that property.

Now that the fire station/parking lot has been torn down, I don't think someone can sue and keep the city from building something there, there's too much of a precedent of structures being built, but the city will not be able to sell any of the properties.  I would like to see something that could connect the Bluff Walk from the other side of Union to behind the Library, though.

https://www.memphisdailynews.com/news/2018/mar/3/heir-on-the-side-of-caution/

 

 

 

[Memphis4ever]

This building is under construction they have placed the construction trailers in the street and bulldozers are digging the foundation for the parking garage and basement.  Full swing nothing stalled here.

[MDC26]

An injunction could be issued to stop construction IF Friends of Our Riverfront post a bond that would cover the cost of halting construction (likely very substantial.) I doubt this happens and next court date is Sep. 20. 

 

https://dailymemphian.com/section/neighborhoods/article/38240/chancery-court-judge-stops-new-brooks-museum-downtown-memphis

[Nothingspectacular]

Maybe a delay or postponement would give museum trustees a chance to totally rethink the horrible architecture and brutalist design of this museum.  It’s an insult to the site and the city, especially so for a prime riverfront site. The museum’s design turns its back on the Mississippi river with very few windows and a the appearance of a concrete military bunker.  

[MDC26]

Details for the rooftop park.  Hearing for lawsuit by Friends for Our Riverfront will be tomorrow.  

https://dailymemphian.com/section/arts-culture/article/38595/brooks-museum-reveals-details-for-rooftop-park-downtown-memphis

[Nothingspectacular]

The design of this building resembles a machine gun bunker, not an art museum. So very bad. 

[BnaBreaker]

On 9/20/2023 at 11:34 AM, Nothingspectacular said:

The design of this building resembles a machine gun bunker, not an art museum. So very bad. 

Yeah, I'm very disappointed in it as well.  I'm glad the Brooks is moving downtown, but this was an opportunity to add a real statement piece to the Memphis cityscape... but instead, they got a giant beige cinder block.  

[jjbradleyBrooklyn]

16 hours ago, BnaBreaker said:

Yeah, I'm very disappointed in it as well.  I'm glad the Brooks is moving downtown, but this was an opportunity to add a real statement piece to the Memphis cityscape... but instead, they got a giant beige cinder block.  

A bunker and a cinder block...now those are descriptions I have not yet heard, but they are not far off.

Not sure how this passed the aesthetic and design panel test? Who approved this? I realize architecture, aesthetic and design are subjective, but this is a MAJOR missed opportunity for Brooks Museum to build something truly everlasting, dynamic and classic, on the downtown Memphis skyline. 

Instead, to me it resembles an unfinished building base, and comes across flat, and so basic. 

[Memphis4ever]

On 9/22/2023 at 4:23 PM, jjbradleyBrooklyn said:

A bunker and a cinder block...now those are descriptions I have not yet heard, but they are not far off.

Not sure how this passed the aesthetic and design panel test? Who approved this? I realize architecture, aesthetic and design are subjective, but this is a MAJOR missed opportunity for Brooks Museum to build something truly everlasting, dynamic and classic, on the downtown Memphis skyline. 

Instead, to me it resembles an unfinished building base, and comes across flat, and so basic. 

There is something called a budget and there is only so much glass you can have in an art museum.  I think the design is simple but its about the materials it will be beautiful once done.

[MDC26]

Brooks Museum name will stay with current building.  The Hyde's bought the naming rights for the new building for $20 million and will be the Memphis Art Museum.

https://dailymemphian.com/section/metrocity-of-memphis/article/38166/brooks-museum-of-art-renames-new-downtown-location

[Memphis4ever]

The basement walls are being poured.

[Memphis4ever]

Tower crane going up today. 

[Memphis4ever]

Foundations going on great and I saw the mock up of the wall around the corner those bricks are beautiful. 

[DowntownUrbanite]

On 9/24/2023 at 9:16 PM, Memphis4ever said:

There is something called a budget and there is only so much glass you can have in an art museum.  I think the design is simple but its about the materials it will be beautiful once done.

I hope you’re right about the finished product. The designers could have utilized the existing parking garage with its interesting federal details and built a transformational museum on top. The budget was irresponsibility wasted on replacing massive amounts of concrete with concrete.  The designers could have used historic materials to match Cotton Row Buildings or used patina aged copper or bronze to give an artistic expression, instead the renderings appear to indicate a concrete bunker with a green roof, replacing a concrete bunker with an asphalt roof. A design totally out of context with its surroundings, just like its predecessor.