Memphis Pyramid Future Plans vary among Mayoral Candidates

Opened in 1991, the Pyramid has in the past cost the city close to $1 million a year to keep shuttered and secure. City officials say they've since reduced costs to close to $300,000 a year.
The last concert held there, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, was in 2007. In years prior to this, the Pyramid was known as the “Tomb of Doom” and was the home basketball court to the University of Memphis Tigers. Now, it stands empty and is such a waste, when it could be utilized in any number of ways as a museum, an aquarium, a casino, an addition to St Jude children’s hospital, or some type of tourist attraction for our city. Instead, it has sat empty while years of negotiations have supposedly taken place with Bass Pro Shops. This company has stretched past the limit on procrastination regarding their megastore plans.
This beautiful structure, part of the downtown Memphis skyline, could be used in so many other ways to reflect some of the history of our city. Memphis does have a sister city in Egypt…Memphis Egypt… and the Pyramid could be used as a museum for the University of Memphis' Institute of Egyptian Art and Archaeology. If relocated there from the University of Memphis campus, not only the museum but also international symposiums could be featured in the arena. Restaurants with an international flavor as well as some retail could be located in the facility to create a destination for visitors and generate revenue.
Another mayoral candidate would like to see the building donated to the St Jude Children’s Research Hospital and converted into a United Nations for Children, furthering the hospital’s worldwide fundraising.
Other mayoral candidates also have other unconventional ideas for the Bluff City’s iconic but vacant structure. Some of the other suggested ideas include a casino and a Memphis music hall of fame venue. Another candidate thinks that with its all glass sides, the pyramid could be turned into a power generator and supply power to all of downtown. Another candidate sees it as a possible home of the blues entertainment and museum center.
Meanwhile, Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery's administration is pushing to close a deal that would turn The Pyramid into an outdoors megastore for Bass Pro Shops. The county mayor also thinks that the Bass Pro Shop which would also include restaurants, a museum, an entertainment facility and a hotel would bring an anchor to the entire north side of downtown and help with the economy of the area.
However it ends up, let’s just hope it adds to our downtown and does not end up being the deserted building that it has been for several years now. It is surely a waste of a landmark that took years to build and does make an impression next to the mighty Mississippi River.