Memphis Riverfront

Confederate Park Renovations

A $1.5 million plan is being implemented in and around Confederate Park in downtown Memphis. The primary goal of the project is to improve public accessibility to the bluffs along the back of the Customs House and to connect Confederate Park with the new University of Memphis School of Law which is scheduled to open in January 2010.

Once the renovations are complete, there will be a pedestrian bridge over Court Street connecting the park to the law school. Other changes will include additional lighting, improved landscaping and new benches and trash cans.

In preparation for the renovations, six cannons have been removed from Confederate Park because they weren’t from the Civil War era. The Civil War time period is the focus of the park, which is bordered by Riverside Drive, Court, Front and Jefferson.

The 2.68-acre park was founded in 1908 and features a statue of the Confederate president Jefferson Davis.

Phase 1 of the work behind the University of Memphis School of Law is underway. Phase 2, which includes the walkway on the bluff, the terrace overlook, the pedestrian bridge to Confederate Park, and the Confederate Park upgrades, will begin in December 2009 and should conclude by the end of June 2010.