Life on the Mississippi Scary, but Inspiring
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Public Records & Notices Monitoring local real estate since 1968 View a complete day’s public records Subscribe Presented by and notices today for our at memphisdailynews.com. free report www.chandlerreports.com Friday, October 16, 2020 MemphisDailyNews.com Vol. 135 | No. 139 Rack–50¢/Delivery–39¢ New Tom Lee Park rental potential sized up WAYNE RISHER estimate is considered a maxi- top-line revenue figure as part of could total more than $600,000 a told the MRPP board Tuesday, Courtesy of The Daily Memphian mum the riverfront organiza- a competitive analysis of MRPP year, MRPP chief executive Carol Oct. 13.“It now becomes our job Private event rentals in the tion doesn’t expect to reach as it facilities and comparable event Coletta said. to figure out ... what the balance new Tom Lee Park could gener- balances the revenue potential venues in the city. “What that doesn’t include is ought to be between public and ate more than $1.2 million a year, against the need for public access The report isn’t complete yet, a consideration that we’re run- private uses. We need to generate offsetting higher maintenance to park amenities. but Leo estimated new Tom Lee ning a public park and you don’t additional revenue. Everybody costs, according to an analy- Leo Events, a meeting and Park venues could initially gen- want a public park to have its big knows that. We feel very good sis done for the Memphis River event organizer based in Mem- erate $1.243 million a year and facilities leased every weekend – Parks Partnership (MRPP).The phis, came up with the first-year Beale Street Landing rentals that’s not a public park,” Coletta TOM LEE PARK CONTINUED ON P2 But after COVID-19 canceled in-person fund- raising, he was looking for a way to raise money and Life on the Mississippi scary, awareness for a charity he leads, Spare Key. “This was really an idea born out of desperation,” he said. “I know nothing about boating,” Mische said. “I’m not adventurous. I’m probably the least brave person you could find to take this trip.” but inspiring Friends called him crazy for considering such a trip, but some of them also instilled a healthy re- spect for the river and appreciation for the people who work on it.“Any number of people said, ‘Don’t do this,’ ” Mische said. “Any number said if you un- dertake this trip without a healthy respect for the river, you’re making a big mistake.”Still, there were harrowing moments before he got the hang of it. A few days after he set out, an encounter with a barge tow and a 60-foot cruiser almost proved disastrous. Mische moved to the wrong side of the oncoming tow and dropped anchor too close to the river’s navigational channel. The cruiser appeared out of nowhere, and the wake nearly capsized the boat.“The raft came up out of the water and I could see sky out the window. I thought I was done for,” Mische said. He quickly pulled up anchor, rode out the waves and headed downriver. Spare Key is a crowd-sourced charity that pays bills such as house payments, rent or utilities for families facing medical emergencies. Mische has been executive director for 9 years. While Spare Key funnels online donations to families in need in 49 states, live fund-raising is needed to pay administrative expenses so the or- ganization can vet recipients and arrange for bills to be paid. Like many small, independent nonprofits around the country, Spare Key was hammered when COV- ID-19 hit, throwing millions out of work and caus- ing corporations and foundations to pull back on Spare Key Executive Director Erich Mische floats on his pontoon boat on Oct. 12, 2020, near Mud Island. He is sailing from Minneapolis donations.Advance publicity referred to Mische’s to Baton Rouge to raise funds and awareness for his nonprofit. (Ziggy Mack/Courtesy of The Daily Memphian) vessel as a raft, conjuring images of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. WAYNE RISHER River in a jury-rigged pontoon boat.Ev- Mische, 57, a former lobbyist and It’s really more like someone took a 52-year- Courtesy of The Daily Memphian ery day on the river demands vigilance legislative aide, was neither a sailor nor old pontoon boat, bolted a Home Depot storage Erich Mische misses the sense of toward the hazards that lie around each an adventurer when he hatched a plan shed to its deck and replaced the walls with screen safety and security of his comfort- bend: powerful natural currents, wind- to sail the Mississippi from St. Paul to panels. Which is what Mische, family and friends able life, before he began a two-month, whipped waters and ocean-like waves Baton Rouge. “It wasn’t on my bucket 1,700-mile odyssey down the Mississippi from large boats and barge tows. list,” he said. MISSISSIPPI CONTINUED ON P2 INSIDE Public Records ................ 4 Public Notices ............... 16 memphisdailynews.com chandlerreports.com Marriage licenses are unavailable ©2020 The Daily News Publishing Company A division of The Daily News Publishing Company while Shelby County Clerk’s O ce Memphis, Tennessee The standard for premium real estate Established 1886 • 135th year information since 1968 reviews internal policies for its digital Call 901.523.1561 to subscribe Call 901.458.6419 for more information platforms. Page 2 MemphisDailyNews.com Friday, October 16, 2020 TOM LEE PARK CONTINUED FROM P1 expand capacity at Beale Street Landing of the park; large lawn areas in Tom Lee expanse with walking paths and park- the revenue the park will generate will or docking facilities at Mud Island River Park; and the interior of Beale Street ing area.The plan calls for planting trees more than cover our additional mainte- Park and Mississippi River Greenbelt Park. Landing. and landscaping, some variations in to- nance costs and we’ll be able to put aside Regarding Tom Lee Park and its event The new design would include three pography away from the river’s edge and money for repairs and so forth that have rental potential, MRPP officials believe distinct lawn areas sized for mass gath- changes to Riverside Drive, to reduce ve- been so problematic on the riverfront,” social distancing norms will increase de- erings of Memphis in May’s Beale Street hicle speeds and relocate parking areas. Coletta added. mand for private rentals of outdoor spaces Music Festival and World Championship Designers envision the park as a se- MRPP is in mediation with the Beale post-COVID-19 pandemic. Barbecue Cooking Contest. ries of outdoor rooms: three large lawns Street Landing architect and contractor Once the city’s tourism, convention When Memphis in May was last held in interspersed with four mini-parks with over issues with the façade peeling and and meeting industry is restarted, offi- 2019, it paid MRPP $95,000 in rent for the playgrounds, picnic and grilling areas, falling off, chief operating officer Art Da- cials expect Tom Lee Park and Beale Street month-plus period that it took over Tom decks, a pedestrian plaza with fountains vis said. MRPP is seeking enough money Landing to be in high demand as ameni- Lee Park and Riverside Drive. and a nature area with an elevated walk- to replace the facade. ties for tourists and meeting participants. The festival also paid to repair dam- way extending toward the Mississippi The partnership also reached a settle- MRPP in September completed sche- age to the park. River’s edge. ment in a lawsuit against the contractor matic design for a $60 million overhaul of The festival skipped this year because In other news, the city is preparing to that built a floating boat dock at Beale Tom Lee Park that accommodates large of COVID-19 and is planning to stage the rebid a project to restore the historic cob- Street Landing, in an attempt to address Memphis in May International Festival 2021 festival in the park. blestone landing after initial bids came in specifications MRPP says weren’t met, events while also improving the park ex- MRPP’s timeline is to begin construc- way over estimates. Davis said. perience for year-round, everyday users. tion in the heart of the park after the 2021 The cobblestone landing, built in the Beale Street Landing was years be- Construction dollars are being raised festival and finish before Memphis in May 1800s for loading and unloading river hind schedule and $16 million over bud- from private and public sources, but 2023. Construction of a disabled-accessi- boats, is immediately north of Beale Street get when it opened in 2014 at a cost of $44 MRPP believes the reconfigured park ble walkway from the blufftop at Vance Landing. It’s managed by the MRPP, but million. It’s also undersized to handle the will create new revenue streams to cover Park to the north end of Tom Lee Park is the city is handling the construction number of overnight cruise ships that are maintenance and operation costs. MRPP’s proposed to begin sooner. project. expected to dock in Memphis once cruise rough estimate of additional maintenance Critics of the Tom Lee Park plan have Construction costs were estimated at activity resumes and the number of ships costs is $250,000 a year. questioned whether MRPP will be pre- $6.4 million, but the lower of two bids re- and operators on the Mississippi River MRPP sees potential for new revenues pared to adequately maintain the 30-acre ceived in July was $9.8 million.