| Crosstown Concourse | ||||||||||
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This project converted an unused and neglected major historical building and space into a vibrant center that has alrady began to tranform a whole section of the city. The restored building has been certified at the Platinum level of environmental design and energy efficiency.
Historian Todd Richardson and artist and manager Christopher Miner formed Crosstown Arts as a nonprofit arts organization in 2010 which would serve as the building's developer repurposing the building as a mixed-used vertical facility. They received commitments from nine prospective tenants called "founding partners" to fill more than 600,000 square feet of the building with various uses. Crosstown Arts contracted the architectural firms of Dialog Design and Looney Ricks Kiss to carry out the project. The official groundbreaking occurred on February 21, 2015. The grand opening for the development was held on August 19, 2017 with open houses for building tenants, live music, art exhibitions, and more. In addition to having been the creative force behind Crosstown,
Creative Arts is an independent nonprofit organization
"dedicated to further cultivating the creative community in Memphis. We provide resources
and create opportunities and experiences to inspire, support, and connect
a diverse range of creative people, projects, and audiences." The organization sponsors
artists of many genres and exhibit their works, and their Crosstown Arts Shared Art Making workspace provides common access to art-making facilities and equipment in digital arts, music, wood-working, printmaking, photography, and more. As port of the Crosstown theme of community building, this workspace encourages collaborative projects beyond traditional boundaries, and its membership is open to hobbyists as well as professionals, at any level of skill.
Medical institution Church Health spans spans 150,000 square feet over three floors of the building. One of the founding tenants of Crosstown, the institution was founded to attempt to provide affordable health care to Memphis' working, possibly uninsured population and their families, and before moving in they has facilities spread over 13 buildings. The new facilities makes it possible for Church Health to offer expanded services such as as a teaching kitchen to provide education on healthy nutrition. Part of this facility is used to provide and market a line of bread products, that will also provide supporting revenue. The kitchen also works with local food entrepeneurs who need access to commercial equipment. Church Health relies on a network of more than 1,000 volunteer providers and partnerships with congregations, health care institutions, and other businesses. A joint project with the YMCA offers a fitness center and excersise classes. Other spaces of Church Health's operation include a chapel, community meeting room, and a child-care center.
Sharing space at the Concourse is an innovative public charter high school, which emphasizes project learning and community involvement. Many of the projects are the result of collaboration with other entities within the Concourse. The school was funded by a major grant from the XQ institute, an organization dedicated to developing innovative education. The school started with a ninth grade only, and it is gradually adding classes until it serves ninth to twelfth grade. Christian Brothers University Campus The Christian Brothers University of Memphis was one of the founding partners of the Concourse. The university has a satellite campus at the atrium of the concourse, where it offers classes and counseling. Its Master of Business Administration in Healthcare Management program is based at the Concourse, with a The 4,000 square ft. space. This program takes advantage of interactions with Concourse partners involved in health care, the arts, and education in an collaborative and interdisciplinary setting. Other Businesses and Facilities Area 51 Ice Cream is a family-owned ice cream shop locaded at the central atrium, with tables outside the shop. Its owners started their first shop in Hernando, Mississippi, and Crosstown is its second location. The shops offer homemade ice cream and fresh-baked goods. Their products are made with no artificial flavors, and use ingredients from local farmers. Madison Pharmacy is a privately owned pharmacy had stood about two miles away for 13 years. When owner Rende Bechtel heard that Crosstown was looking for a resident pharmacy, it was an opportunity she couldn't pass up. "It was like fate," she says, explaining that her parents both worked in the old Sears Tower and that that was where they first met. The pharmacy has about 300 regular customers now and they are hoping to expand by taking advantage of the other health-care services housed in Crosstown. The relocated pharmacy will also become a convenience store. The hope, Bechtel says, is that "people who live and work here will come in on a regular basis and we'll get to know them, while providing them with what they need." In addition to Church Health, the Concourse also houses branches of Methodist Lebonheur Healthcare and the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Other facilities include a fedex office, beauty salon, dentist, a financial advise firm, a sinagogue and short-term stay apartments, fully furnished, available for overnight visits. There is also a technical training school orinted to the needs of the Memphis community. A family-owned grocer enphasizes fresh foods. The Parcels at Concourse constitute the residential section of the "village." It is comprisesof of 265 apartments on floors seven through ten, in a choice of studio and one, two, and three-bedroom apartments. The renovation attempted to maintain historical elements of the building wherever practical, such as the exposed brick walls and wood floors. To foster community building there are a number of gathering spaces and group seating areas throughout the section ans some of the apartments have indoor front porches. And of course residents can take advantage of the numerous activites at the Concourse. Of the 265 units, 103 are designated as residences for emkployes of several of the businesses in the building. An affordable housing grant allows the price of 20 percent of the units to be maintained at a lower rate.  Photo © Crosstown Concourse The Concourse includes a a flexible 417-seat theatre that is used for film, drama, live music, dance, and lectures, and it contributes to Crosstown’s mission to unite people through the arts.  Photo © Crosstown Concourse Sources: | |||||||||
