Attention artists, students, architects, urban designers, and South Main property and business owners: There is an exciting opportunity for you. Yesterday the Downtown Memphis Commission announced the South Main Design Challenge. They are looking for innovative and original ideas to reuse vacant spaces in the South Main district. The sites are
- Huling Parking Lot
- Talbot Lot
- Lyric Panel Lot
- Ambassador Hotel Site
- Army/Navy Park
- Russell Hardware Site
- Buffalo Mural Lot
Teams of up to six people have until January 14 to apply. Teams ideally should consist of at least one architect and one South Main community member. The goal will be to transform a site into a community asset on a limited budget of less than $5,000. More info and how to apply can be found on this site. Crowdsourcing ideas to improve the community. I like it. I like it a lot!
I’ve been asked to remind everyone that Downtown Night at the Grizzlies is a week from tonight. In addition to a game ticket, attendees get a private reception in Opus Lounge with food and beverages, and a T-shirt. Ticket options are $49 and $99. The event is limited to 200 people, so if you want to go, don’t hesitate to order your ticket.
The Civil Rights Museum was featured in a Huffington Post article today. The article talks about the renovations going on at the museum. Good to see it getting some national attention.
There’s a prime development opportunity Downtown. The Greyhound bus station has moved to the airport area (FINALLY!) and the site is ready to be redeveloped. It’s 1.37 acres in a very high-visibility location on Union Avenue across from AutoZone Park and half a block from the Peabody. More info here.
This is not Downtown news, but it’s really, really cool: Nirvana is reuniting to play the Hurricane Sandy benefit concert tonight at Madison Square Garden. Taking the place of late lead singer Kurt Cobain will be none other than Sir Paul McCartney. Is it just me or does Paul seem to be getting way cooler as he gets older, kinda the way Johnny Cash did?
Not long after the Blind Bear opened last December, I got a cup of their turkey chili and a cup of the pepper jack mac & cheese and made my own chili mac. It tasted okay but not good enough for me to want to do it again. Now that they’ve replaced the turkey chili with their thick, rich beef and bean Hibernation Chili, I decided to give it another go last night, combining a cup of that with the pepper jack mac & cheese. It was fantastic! The chili mac was enough to get two meals from, and the total cost was only $8.
That’ll do it for now. Possibly another post this evening.