"GrizzlieTown" : public memory, urban competition, and the new Memphis Arena

Abstract

Many cities struggle to compete for revenue and the promise of future growth by building new entertainment complexes downtown, and in doing so make spatial compromises in the effort to get ahead. Urban Competition should be used to its fullest urban and architectural advantage in order to best serve a city's multiple publics. Memphis, a city with a rich cultural heritage, has recently decided to build a new indoor NBA basketball arena. As its design suggests, this big-box facility will fall short in its potential for invigorating downtown spaces and will result in a loss of public memory. The publicly-funded and privately-owned arena will be largely inaccessible to the taxpayers who have chosen to fund it. Here, an alternate proposal for a downtown sports arena includes an urban strategy, the reconfiguration of a sports arena seating bowl, two mixed-use buildings, a sports and entertainment building, and an open-air public space that enriches public memory of the site. Such a design draws upon a city's history while taking advantage of opportunities for urban growth.