[Johnny Ryall]

Wharton Confident Pyramid Lease Close
BILL DRIES | The Daily News

The city of Memphis and Bass Pro Shops have agreed to continue working toward a lease agreement for The Pyramid for another month. Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. told The Daily News the signed extension agreement is the latest development in talks he had hoped would be over by the end of April. “We’re narrowing those areas where we still have to do some work,” he said. “Everybody’s working in good faith.” “Everybody” is Housing and Community Development Director Robert Lipscomb, Bass Pro Shops executives and “a whole passel of lawyers,” Wharton said. “Maybe that’s the problem,” he joked.

Bass Pro Shops executives committed in late March to a November 2011 opening date for a store and other attractions in the former arena. The declaration came after the city and the outdoor retailer reached agreement on maintenance of flood walls on the west side of The Pyramid and accepting the same set of standards for seismic retrofitting. The concerns about meeting seismic standards have been the most discussed and debated. As the owner of The Pyramid and its landlord, the city of Memphis will pay for the retrofitting. No estimate has been done, but city officials have said it will be “costly.” The city’s role is certain to involve using bond money to finance public infrastructure improvements in the area.