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Old Posted Apr 29, 2010, 7:22 PM
Johnny Ryall Johnny Ryall is offline
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Lease Agreement Appears Close For Bass Pro
BILL DRIES | The Daily News

Lease negotiations for The Pyramid are going so well, an e-mail may seal the deal, said Memphis Mayor A C Wharton Jr. City leaders and Bass Pro Shops executives are scheduled to meet Thursday in Springfield, Mo., at the headquarters of the outdoor retailer. Talks on specific lease terms began this month and are moving at such a rapid pace Wharton told The Daily News there may be no need to travel to Springfield. “I’m reading e-mails and drafts everyday. We’re hoping that meeting will not be necessary,” Wharton said. “We might be close enough to an agreement that it would not be fruitful to go all the way up there.”

Meanwhile, Wharton has linked the redevelopment of The Pyramid to another riverfront project, Beale Street Landing. In a letter Monday to City Council chairman Harold Collins, Wharton said $1 million in federal community development block grant (CDBG) money will be reallocated to complete the current phase of the project. Private contributors will match the CDBG funding with $1 million. “It is clear to me that Beale Street Landing will have an iconic status similar to The Pyramid, but what remains for us to decide is if the icon is positive or negative,” Wharton wrote. “If we modify the design … we erode the important impact that Beale Street Landing promises for the future of our riverfront.”



The project to create a landing for excursion boats and a park-like setting for access to the river and Memphis harbor is approximately $6.7 million short of the funding needed to complete it. The $2 million allows a contract to be awarded to build a structure with a grass roof at the landing as well as a park connection to the boat docking facility now under construction.

Wharton said his letter does not rule out possible changes to the project that began during former Mayor Willie Herenton’s administration. “There will be a re-examination of the premise,” he told The Daily News. “You always retest your premise, particularly when you have a plan that’s getting some age on it. I am getting a number of requests from folks not saying abandon it – they’re saying test what you’re doing.” Riverfront Development Corp. President Benny Lendermon told The Daily News he welcomes a re-examination of the project.

“Can there be many more significant changes to the park that is built to be the last phase – the centerpiece of this project? I really don’t think so,” he said. “Does that mean we’re not going to continue to look? We will. Are we going to get other people involved? Certainly. “But there’s no low-hanging branches there that are easy pickoffs in terms of changes that can be made.”
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