Memphis Heritage has played an integral role in many historic preservation projects in the Memphis and Shelby County area.
Two of our most visible successes include:
Overton Square
Overton Square, a small Midtown commercial district dating back to the 1920’s, was slated for demolition, and Memphis Heritage played a pivotal, and largely unseen, role in preserving the area and shaping a plan for its redevelopment. in 2012 plans emerged to clear Overton Square for a parking lot and a discount grocery store. Memphis Heritage connected the owners to a local developer who had a vision for redeveloping Overton Square, worked with the Memphis City Council to temporarily halt the demolition plans so that alternatives could be considered, and facilitated public meetings and solicited participation by government officials, potential investors, and other interested parties.
The Tennessee Brewery
The Tennessee Brewery is a magnificent 65,000 square foot building opened in 1877. Empty since 1954, this architectural phenomenon was once the pride of Memphis, producing over 250,000 barrels of Goldcrest 51 beer at its height. When the plans for demolition became public, Memphis Heritage elevated the efforts to find a re-use for the building. Memphis Heritage facilitated and moderated community events, public forums, and public conversations among community leaders. A group of young entrepreneurs and community leaders took on the task of transforming two rooms and the Brewery’s courtyard into a beer garden for a six-week event called “Brewery Untapped.” The rustic yet upscale beer garden, with local beers, with donated furnishings and food trucks, was an instant success.
Other successes include:
- The Patton-Bejach House restoration – now the home of the Child Advocacy Center
- Prevention of Beale Street and The Pinch District removal from the National Register of Historic Places
- Grand Reopening of Downtown’s Central Train Station
- The adaptation into apartments of the Chisca Hotel that now serves as a gateway to the Historic South Main Neighborhood
- Preservation and adaptive reuse of the James Lee Mansion to an upscale B&B in Victorian Village
- Redevelopment of the Historic Lauderdale Courts, now part of the Uptown Community
- Preservation of the historic Lowenstein Brothers’ Building until a viable plan for adaptive reuse was developed and implemented
- Preservation and restoration of the Roland Darnell Mansion
- Repurposing of the Custom House and U.S. Post Office into the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law
- Preservation of historic civil rights sight, Clayborn Temple