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Memphis officials are hoping that a 32-story pyramid that is nearing completion on the riverfront will do for their city what the Gateway Arch has done for St. Louis -- attract tourists and spur downtown development. The 321-foot-high structure, clad in stainless steel, will house a 22,000-seat arena. Other potential occupants are the American Music Awards Hall of Fame, the National College Football Hall of Fame, and a Hard Rock Cafe.
There's some fear, however, that the Great American Pyramid won't be any more successful than previous efforts to revitalize the city's downtown. Some Memphians worry that the pyramid may not live up to its billing as a world-class attraction. So far, its flamboyant manager has been unable to obtain financing to implement his grand plans for an entertainment complex.
Pyramid manager Sidney Shlenker had proposed installation of a "Disneyland-type Egyptian experience," a simulated tour of ancient Egypt with a boat ride on the Nile and an encounter with an Egyptian god rising out of a sarcophagus. He also envisioned a glass-enclosed elevator to transport visitors up the outer edge of the pyramid to an observation area on the 28th floor.
Shlenker is now a household name in Memphis. But he was unknown in the early 1980s, when city and county officials first considered modest plans to expand the Mid-South Coliseum to keep up with be one of many joint city-county efforts, with the university contributing as well, ticket demand for Memphis State University basketball games. The project was to be one of many joint city-county efforts, witht he university contributing as well. But years of debate ensued over whether to expand the coliseum or build a new arena -- and where to build it. Some city council members favored a site in the South Bluffs neighborhood, a black area, according to council member Mary Rose McCormick, one of the original proponents of the alternate site.
The pyramid idea had been floating around for decades when it was picked up by influential businessman John Tigrett, whose son owns the Hard Rock Cafe. Tigrett, an inventor and international financial consultant, was intrigued by the prospect of capitalizing on the connection with Memphis's namesake, the ancient Egyptian city on the Nile. Tigrett, along with local designer Brent...