Memphis’ riverfront has historically been used as a working yard for industry and transport, thus obstructing the public from directly accessing the river. Tom Lee Park catalyzes the reunification of river and city by transforming a significant piece of the riverfront into a signature park where community life can flourish along the water’s edge. The design is informed by the Mississippi’s dynamic patterns of flow. Both architecture and landscape work together to smoothly facilitate the movement of people into and through the park, and to capture the sense of motion and change that the river exemplifies. The design includes five new and improved entrances with defined landing points that extend from major streets. From here, visitors are greeted by new topography, plantings, and paths that frame views of the river, guide them to specific landmarks, and connect them with the park’s outdoor spaces, which range in scale from open lawns for games and cookouts to wooded micro-forests for shaded rest. Designed to support Memphians ambitions and favorite activities, new structures emerge from the landscape to flexibly accommodate a range of uses—sports and fitness, outdoor education, community dinners, and concerts, to name just a few.
