Park plan sails along
Posted November 14, 2009
Not to jinx the thing, but we’ve been waiting to hear objections to the renovation plans for Confederate Park, and so far there don’t seem to be any.
Could a riverfront improvement plan be under way, and nobody is against it?
To be sure, the plan has a lot going for it. To make the 2.68-acre park more compatible with the adjacent University of Memphis Law School, scheduled to open in January in the former post office, Confederate Park will get additional lighting, improved landscaping, new benches and trash cans, and a pedestrian bridge over Court connecting it to the law school.
Not even the Riverfront Development Commission’s involvement — the same group that has encountered everything from stubborn resistance to outrage toward many of its ideas — has caused a stir.
But Confederate Park is no land bridge across the harbor, no high-rise office buildings on the bluff, no Beale Street Landing.
The removal of some artillery pieces from the site is no big deal. They’re not from the Confederate era, anyway.
As long as nobody touches the Jefferson Davis statue, this project could go forward without controversy. Wouldn’t that be a nice change?
2009 The E.W. Scripps Co.
On The Web: www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/nov/14/park-plan-sails-along/