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Farish Street

tombarnes

By tombarnes
in Mississippi

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Post any information, news or pictures about Jackson's fledgling entertainment district here. I'll start off with an article from the Jackson Free Press...

http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=4462_0_4_0_C

I think a couple of the new bars and restaurants planned for the area should be opening this year. t has been a struggle, but I think the area will make significant progress once a few places are open. The synergy should then produce more venues for entertainment, or so the theory goes. Revitalizing the King Edward is essential to the rebirth of the area.

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sleepy Burg

sleepy

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BB King's is great news.

I believe the only other venues are in Los Angeles, Memphis, New York, and Nashville.

Anyway, I think the outfit that's in charge of Farish St. is the same group out of Memphis that runs Beale St.--Performa and/or Elkington.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Performa it is. It took about 6 years for Beale Street to really get going. I remember visiting Beale Street in college...there was almost nothing there. What, by the way, has become of the Commodore Hotel (immortalized by Little Feat)?

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Melton's Junket to the Bahamas...Will It Produce Results?

Mr. Melton has just returned from the Four Seasons Resort at Great Exuma. He attended a meeting of the board of directors of BMI Music Corp.. Supposedly, he gathered information and contacts while there. All of this junketing is somehow going to benefit the Farish Street entertainment district. At least he spent his own money.

Article from the Clarion Ledger

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sleepy Burg

sleepy

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Performa it is. It took about 6 years for Beale Street to really get going. I remember visiting Beale Street in college...there was almost nothing there. What, by the way, has become of the Commodore Hotel (immortalized by Little Feat)?

Commodore Hotel?

Never heard of it. I suspect it refers to the old Admiral Benbow Motor Inn on Union across from the Methodist Hospital. Built circa 1958, by the 1980's it had devolved into a very unsavory place of crack ho's and other lowlifes. Nonetheless, it acquired a certain hip cult following. Google Admiral Benbow Memphis (not the Summer Ave. location) for rock star fame.

Here's an example: http://weeklywire.com/ww/02-21-00/memphis_cvr.html

An excerpt from the Commercial Appeal about the Australian Ambassador and the Admiral Benbow:

http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/restaurant_re..._796592,00.html

"It seems as if it were only yesterday when Malcolm Fraser, prime minister of Australia from 1975 to 1983, wandered into the lobby of the Admiral Benbow motel at Union and Bellevue at 7 a.m. dressed in a shirt, a tie and a towel - "You mean this isn't The Peabody?" - and asked the desk clerk to call a taxi.

The desk clerk, Dell Sanders, didn't realize that the man standing before her was important.

Actually, that singular event in our city's checkered narrative took place in 1986, but Memphians with long memories have never forgotten, and I'll confess that for years every time I drove past the clunky Fiftiesoid orange and white structure, I uttered a little cry of glee at Sanders's great line."

Maybe the tune refers to the Ambassador Hotel, though I doubt it, which is directly downtown and is now condos.

Ambassador Hotel condos:

31444339.jpg

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sleepy Burg

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Melton's Junket to the Bahamas...Will It Produce Results?

Mr. Melton has just returned from the Four Seasons Resort at Great Exuma. He attended a meeting of the board of directors of BMI Music Corp.. Supposedly, he gathered information and contacts while there. All of this junketing is somehow going to benefit the Farish Street entertainment district. At least he spent his own money.

Article from the Clarion Ledger

I read the article. Since he paid for the trip I don't know why people seem to be complaining.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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I think people in Jackson are just in a mood to complain about Mr. Melton. I don't care what he does, as long as he won't demolish the King Edward. More than anything, his grandstanding on various issues has opened the way for loud criticism. Much of what he is doing for the city will ultimately be beneficial. He simply has a penchant for closing strip clubs and demolishing apartment complexes.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Peaches Restaraunt Receives $10,000 Grant

For a restaurant which has closed its doors, a $10,000 grant might not be much, but it might get the place going again. Things really need to get moving on Farish Street for an "Entertainment District" to work. Where are Mr. Melton's big plans now?

The Clarion Ledger

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll...8/NEWS/60808018

I can't get the link to work.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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It's certainly time they did something about the Farish Street project. I hope Proforma is sincere in their efforts to kick-start the project. I do wonder, however, about the flexible deadline. I'd hate to wait three years and still see nothing from them.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Work IS Progressing on Farish Street- However Slowly

Workers are busy with interior demolition at various sites on Farish Street. How long this will take remains to be seen. It is useful to remember that work in an historic district usually takes longer than standard construction. I hope that something will shape up before the end of the summer- at least in terms of plans. I doubt we will see much in the way of flourishing businesses for at least another year.

The Clarion Ledger

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Frank Turns His Tanks on Farish Street?

Frank Melton is now threatening to demolish a row of shotgun houses on farish Street. I realize that the revitalization of the area hasn't happened quickly, but this could jeopardize the future of the area if illegal demolitions are carried out. Federal funding for the area could be denied for future projects. Jackson simply can't afford this. I'd love to see some action on Farish Street, but bringing out the bulldozers isn't the answer.

The Clarion Ledger

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Update on Farish Street

Things are going at a very slow pace. Only three buildings have recieved new store fronts. Frank again wants to end ties with the developer siting slow process. Jimmy Hiedel, president of Parkway Properties and the city's economic developoment consultant, said that all loans are finally in place and hopes to see more construction within the next thirty to sixty days.

WLBT

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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I hope that some meaningful progress can be made on Farish Street. So far, it has proven to be little more than a boulevard of broken dreams. Jimmy Heidel might be good for his word, but I'll reserve judgment until I see more progress. I just hope Frank can keep his mitts off this one before it too becomes even more of a boondoggle.

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tombarnes City

tombarnes

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Council to Debate Farish Street Issues This Afternoon

The city council is set to discuss Farish Street this afternoon, even if they have already delayed a vote on the A1 Pallets building. Something needs to be done fairly quickly, but Melton's answer of simply bringing in the bulldozers will endanger, if not eliminate, federal funding for the project. This is an issue which needs resolution if it is ever to take place. Now is the time for the city to act.

WLBT Channel 3 Nerws

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