Water and Dreams

It was with great delight that I found this video clip in the Internet Archive. In it we find Memphis architect Roy Harrover, author of a number of the city's most iconic modern structures, describing the background to the development of the Mud Island park, and proudly showing off the results via a dimly lit slide show, to an audience in Dallas in 1984.

View of the iconic Hernando De Soto Bridge from the "arrivals level"


Then Mud Island was only in its infancy, but nearly 30 years later, it is a sad shadow of its former self. Gone are the five restaurants mentioned here, and the crowds. However, the River Walk model remains impressively intact, and the views of the city's waterfront and the river itself are undiminished by time. I took the kids there on a visit last April, and they loved every minute of it.

View from the island back towards The Pyramid, a much less worthy project


Mississippi River from the southern tip of the island


"Gulf of Mexico" fountain at the end of the River Walk


He alludes to 90 shows in the amphitheatre per season, and indeed, during this time frame, I saw Elvis Costello twice (Nick Lowe/Aztec Camera opening), R.E.M., Merle Haggard, a great Stax review featuring Booker T. & The M.G.'s and Eddie Floyd, and my little brother's band (called Last Exit) at a battle of the bands event in this amazing venue, now largely silent. It's sadly ironic, but hardly surprising to those who know Memphis, that Mr. Harrover closes with a statement of satisfaction that the project seems to have instilled Memphians with a sense of pride in their own heritage - alas, apparently of a highly ephemeral nature.

Kids frolicking ankle-deep in the "mouth of the Mississippi"