Midtown Memphis, Tn

an architectural guide to MIDTOWN MEMPHIS, TN Sponsored By: THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTS Memphis Celebrating 60 Years AIAMemphis.org BIKE ROUTE : Midtown Route begins at Haizlip Studio | 2125 Central Avenue Total Route Length: 7.7 miles Leg Turn Notes Total → Right Turn right on S Belvedere Blvd 0.8 0.2 → Right Turn right on Harbert Ave 1.0 0.3 ← Left Turn left on S McLean Blvd 1.3 0.9 → Right Turn right on Poplar Ave 2.2 0.2 ← Left Turn left on Morrie Moss Ln; continue on to Prentiss Place 2.4 0.1 → Right Turn right on Golf Dr 2.4 0.2 ← Left Turn left on Veterans Plaza Dr 2.6 0.7 → Right Turn right on Morrie Moss 3.4 0.2 → Right Turn right onto N McLean Blvd 3.5 0.3 → Right Turn right onto Snowden Ave 3.9 0.3 → Right Turn right onto University St 4.2 0.2 → Right Turn right onto North Pkwy 4.3 0.3 ← Left Turn left onto N McLean Blvd 4.6 0.2 → Right Turn right onto Galloway Ave 4.8 0.3 ← Left Turn left onto N Evergreen St 5.0 0.2 ← Left Turn left onto Overton Park 5.2 0.3 → Right Turn right onto N McLean Blvd 5.5 0.7 ← Left Turn left onto Madison Ave 6.2 0.5 → Right Turn right onto S Cooper St 6.7 0.3 → Right Turn right onto Courtland Pl 7.0 0.1 ← Left Turn left onto Florence St 7.1 0.0 ← Left Turn left onto Peabody Ave 7.2 0.1 → Right Turn right onto S Cooper St 7.3 BIKE MAP : Midtown 0.4 → Right Turn right onto Central Ave 7.7 Route available online at RideWithGPS.com/Routes/3138684 1· Immaculate Conception 8 · Rhodes College High School & Addition 9 · Hein Park Did You Know...? 2 · Central Gardens 10 · Parkway House The Beaux Arts style of the original Brooks Museum 3 · 1749 Harbert Avenue 11 · Snowden School in Overton Park was inspired by the Morgan Library 4 · Catholic Boys High School 12 · Evergreen Historic District in New York City and designed by James Gamble Rogers, the architect of many of the buildings at & Gymnasium 13 · Overton Square Yale and Columbia Universities. 5 · Overton Park 14 · 2080 Peabody Avenue 6 · Memphis College of Art 15 · Cooper-Young 7 · The Levitt Shell Neighborhood GASSNER RESIDENCE 1749 Harbert Avenue Architect: Francis Gassner | 1967 Built in 1967 by its namesake architect, Francis Gassner, this residence reflects the International Style that flourished in the mid- 20th century. It shares the block with a Colonial Revival home, an 1850s ‘plantation house’ and is “the closest thing Memphis has to a house by Frank Lloyd Wright,” according to a history of the homes compiled by Central Gardens resident Marsha Hayes. Francis Gassner was among the foremost Memphis architects of the 1960s and 1970s, contributing a substantial design legacy to the IMMACULATE CONCEPTION HIGH SCHOOL & ADDITION city. 1756 Central Avenue Modern addition by A.L. Aydelott & Associates | 1952-1956 Immaculate Conception school is an early example of modern school design in Memphis. A self-supporting curtain-wall stands in front of the building’s supporting frame, which both maximizes light and hides the structural system from the exterior, was a radical design departure for a Memphis school. The architectural concept is based on Miesian-Minimalism, and is a successful expression of site plan and architectural simplicity. CATHOLIC BOYS HIGH SCHOOL *& GYMNASIUM 61 North McLean Boulevard Architect: Office of Walk C. Jones, Jr. School | 1949, Gymnasium | 1956 Though built by the same architect, the Catholic High School and Gymnasium are stylistically in conflict with one another. The school, is based on Art Moderne, yet is an example of the transition to a focus on mass rather than decoration to produce monumental CENTRAL GARDENS buildings. The design intent was to produce an asymmetrical scheme anchored by the school entrance at one end and the Central Gardens was originally part of the Solomon Rozelle estate. gymnasium at the other. Rozelle was among the first permanent settlers in the area, and the house built by C.W. Rozelle stands to this day. The gym design is based on the principles of structural expressionism, an example of early designers’ focus on form In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the most prominent following function. architects of the day made Central Gardens a showcase, and the city’s most prominent citizens made it the address of choice. The range of architectural styles in the neighborhood reflect the involvement of notable Memphis architects including Walk Jones, Sr., George Mahan, Jr., J. Frazer Smith, Neander M. Woods, Jr., Max Furbringer, and Francis Gassner. In 1982, Central Gardens was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It comprises approximately 83 blocks, 1540 structures and 511 acres. Central Gardens was also designated a Level III Accredited Arboretum by the State of Tennessee on May 31, 2008. One of only two in the state, it is the only arboretum in West Tennessee and is home to more than ninety species of trees, many over eighty years old. MEMPHIS COLLEGE OF ART: RUST HALL Overton Park Architect: Mann and Harrover, architects Phase One | 1956, Phase Two | 1970 The firm of Mann and Harrover secured the Rust Hall project by winning a juried competition. It serves as one of the best and most enduring examples of early modern architecture in Memphis. The distinctive screen walls have inspired the Memphis College of Art logo, and the design ties together a complex, multi-function program. OVERTON PARK Rust Hall was named the 1950s ‘Building of the Decade’ by the American Institute of Architects. On November 14, 1901, the City of Memphis purchased a 342- acre tract of land from Nashville residents Ella and Overton Lea for $110,000. ‘Lea’s Woods’, as it was known, became Overton Park. Landscape architect George Kessler designed the park as part of a comprehensive plan that also included what is now Martin Luther King-Riverside Park and the Memphis Parkway System. The park was named after John Overton, a co-founder of Memphis, on July 25, 1902. In the late 1950s Overton Park became the subject of controversy when 26 of its 342 acres were condemned by the State of Tennessee for a planned right-of-way for Interstate 40. Residents of Midtown formed an advocacy group called Citizens to Preserve Overton Park and challenged the plan in court. In 1971, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in CPOP’s favor in the landmark case. The 26 acres were deeded back to the City of THE LEVITT SHELL Memphis in 1987. Overton Park Architect: Max H. Furbringer & Merrill Ehrman | 1936 Renovation: ANF Architects | 2007 Originally constructed in 1936 and modeled on a series of outdoor amphitheaters around the country at the time, the structure was built for $11,935 as part of a New Deal Works Progress Administration initiative. The Shell, as it is affectionately known by locals, was the site of Elvis Presley’s first professional rock ‘n’ roll concert. The building faced demolition many times and in 2007 the dilapidated structure underwent a complete renovation. The Shell currently hosts free outdoor concerts and events throughout the summer months. Rhodes College CAmpus 2000 North Parkway Master Planner: Henry C. Hibbs | 1924 Rhodes College was founded in 1848 in Clarksville, TN, as the Masonic University of Tennessee. In 1925, school president Charles Diehl moved the school to Memphis and began construction on the new campus. Later buildings were designed by H. Clinton Parrent, an associate of Henry Hibbs. He purchased a stone quarry in Bald Knob, AR to ensure consistency of materials for the Gothic Revival school buildings. The school’s name changed to Southwestern at Memphis in 1945 until the name changed to Rhodes College, honoring former president Peyton Nalle Rhodes, in 1984. PARKWAY HOUSE 1960 North Parkway Originally built as one of the first luxury apartment complexes in Memphis the 1920s, the Parkway House’s plans to become a resident-owned cooperative fell victim to the Great Depression. The building, like the nearby, now-demolished Forrest Park Apartments, instead became an apartment and hotel. The success of the Parkway House building model became the blueprint for a series of apartment towers built in the 1960s and 1970s in East Memphis, near the Memphis and Chickasaw Country Clubs. HEIN PARK Hein Park was established as a classic 1920s 110-acre subdivision in 1924 on the eastern boundary of Memphis by W. A. Hein. The neighborhood has fewer than 200 homes, with original brick and limestone columns at the parkway entrances. SNOWDEN SCHOOL 1870 North Parkway Architect: Jones & Furbringer | 1909 Snowden school was originally built at the eastern edge of Memphis to address the area’s growing population. Built in the Beaux Arts style, the building was constructed primarily of reinforced concrete as a fireproofing measure. The original plan included space for eight classrooms, each designed to hold fifty students,and an assembly hall. Separate entrances were created for male and female students; the stonework ‘Boys’ entrance is still visible on the western side of the building. The original building cost $50,000 to construct and included options for substantial expansion due to the predicted growth of the area. AYDELOTT OFFICE **- PRIVATE RESIDENCE 2080 Peabody Avenue Architect: Dent & Aydelott | 1952 Built as the office of A. L. Aydelott and Associates, this building is now a private residence. It serves as one of the earliest and best examples of Modern Architecture in Memphis.

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