Executive Summary
After almost a year of intensive review, public participation, and evaluation of many design alternatives, Cooper, Robertson & Partners is pleased to present the Memphis Riverfront Master Plan to the Riverfront Development Corporation (RDC) for consideration. Our assignment was daunting but clear: provide a road map for the strategic development of five miles of Mississippi River frontage. Specifically, as described in the RFP, we were asked to create a world-class waterfront destination, a place that will showcase the Mississippi River. The RDC sought a design rooted in the unique history and character of Memphis and a plan that would redefine the riverfront as a new place not yet imagined by Memphians. Our work was to include a large amount of public participation through workshops and meetings in order to gather public consensus for the plan. The plan had to include a balance of public and private investment in order to be economically feasible. Finally, the plan recommendations had to take into account the entire five-mile frontage and be based on an implementation strategy to be shaped by the regional marketplace, financing capabilities, individual project costs, phasing, historic concerns, and engineering constraints.
When we started our work, we found a proud city and a riverfront laden with potential. It is a riverfront composed of many fine individual elements: Court Square, the Cobblestones, Tom Lee Park, Beale Street, Union Avenue, Main Street, Wolf River Harbor, but none working together toward a single identity — the creation of one riverfront. Other cities have achieved this goal and have overcome many difficult obstacles. Baltimore’s Inner Harbor, Pittsburgh’s Golden Triangle, and Portland’s Willamette riverfront are examples that we have studied and learned from. We believe Memphis can become the next great city on the Mississippi. The setting on top of the bluff is not too high (such as Minneapolis) or too low (like New Orleans) but is at an optimum relationship from which to view the river. Memphis’ view across the river to the Arkansas flood plain is spectacular and protected by the Army Corps of Engineers flood protection plan. Memphis’ prime riverfront real estate is at the foot of downtown, which has seen prominent new investments like Peabody Place and AutoZone Park, as well as the new NBA arena being built, and provides an aweinspiring sunset. These ingredients can all come together to form a new downtown riverfront on the Mississippi.
The plan attempts to balance the need for revenues with the equally profound need for an accessible, vibrant, and desirable destination at the riverfront. Memphis can have it both ways. The two needs are not mutually exclusive, but rather interdependent. The Master Plan can be developed in small increments over time. Clearly the most drastic change will occur when the downtown Harbor comes on line. The plan offers a mixed-use urbane environment, with living, working, entertainment, and the added stimulus of beautiful and multiple views of the Mississippi River. It is important to remain faithful to the public nature of the plan. The initial public investments are likely to be large, but the returns beneficial with no compromise in quality or control. The plan represents a 50-year vision for Memphis, a timeframe we feel is appropriate for the scale of the endeavor. And the plan is bold, a measure we feel is also appropriate given the nature of the riverfront today, and given the steps needed to fully realize the potential of making the riverfront a world-class attraction and for this new riverfront to become Memphis’ postcard icon.