Braod Avenue Wins ArtPlace Grant

The Broad Avenue Arts District has won a $350,000 grant from ArtPlace America, which will transform the warehouse loading dock at 2542 Broad Avenue into a performing arts stage and will turn the iconic Broad Avenue water tower into a piece of public art. The entire area will be known as the Broad Avenue Water Tower Depot.

Loeb Properties owns the warehouse buildings, which includes the water tower; we could not be more excited to provide space to further aid in the place-making efforts occurring on the street since late 2010, when the “New Face for an Old Broad” event was held in November of that year.

At the press event announcing the grant on May 22, Bob Loeb stated, “To see these cities that are regenerating and rebuilding themselves is just really exciting. It’s really regenerative if you give it a chance and part of pulling people together to work for the common good is a lot of fun.”

Mayor Wharton made the announcement at the press event, and stated, ““We are becoming known everywhere about creative place making. There’s only one of these. You can’t order this anywhere. This is uniquely Memphis.”

From the Commercial Appeal article:

“’This grant provides a major boost to an historic area of our city that has been going through a grass-roots renaissance,’ Wharton said in a prepared statement. ‘It is a creative use of space that will double as industrial warehouse and loading dock during the week, and as a public and artistic gathering space on weekends and for special events.’

The project entails the construction of a terraced seating and public art installation area, a national competition for an artistic design for the water tower; a dance festival, and eight weekends of free outdoor community dance concerts, including dance classes and live music.

‘The project and the grant could not have happened without the enthusiastic participation of Loeb Properties, which owns the warehouse and water tower, and Power & Tel, which uses the space and loading dock every day,’ David Wayne Brown, president of the Historic Broad Business Association, said in prepared remarks.”