Yesterday I had lunch with a friend at Cafe Francisco in the Pinch, and as I walked up there I noticed a new street sign at the corner of Main and North Parkway:
North Parkway is no longer called North Parkway. It’s now known as Shadyac Avenue. Not sure what the reason was for the rename – never heard of a famous Mr. Shadyac or Mrs. Shadyac in Memphis. (Edited to add: Several readers have informed me that the street is named after Richard Shadyac, CEO of ALSAC until 2005 and a very successful fund-raiser for St. Jude.)
I do know that they have been planning a re-alignment of the streets in that area due to the St. Jude expansion. I remember reading that North Parkway (now Shadyac) would be closed from Third to Danny Thomas, and North Parkway east of Danny Thomas would be re-routed to flow into what is now Auction.
I assume that the street is still called North Parkway east of Danny Thomas. If anyone has details on this change let me know. The new name has not shown up on any of the major mapping sites yet, so it must have happened fairly recently.