Summary Of Collage V. Armstrong
On August 7th, W. Otis Higgs, Jr. of the Peete, Higgs, and Armstrong law firm on behalf of the South Side Church of God in Christ responded to the allegations made by the South Memphis District Alliance of Neighborhood Associations . The Church outlined its binding covenants from Union Planters and provided evidence of its progress towards build a community center containing a gymnasium, kitchen, shelter, and educational facilities. The court again agreed with the plaintiffs at the August 18th hearing. With the reprieve the group sought a way to acquire and preserve the Stax legacy and building. However, they found a populace and city not yet ready to come to grips with its truly unique place as the result of African American and musical
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W. Otis Higgs, the attorney for the church, declaring that the building could be purchased for $150,000 and obtaining an agreement from Union Planters to release the property from the covenants. However, an agreement to acquire the building by either Judy McEwen or Sidney Shlenker was never reached. Whether either of them agreed to the price is unknown. But in the end, Reverend Smith decided that the a community center and soup kitchen on the site served the South Memphis community better than any of the proposed uses envisioned by McEwen or Shlenker. Additionally, a few of Shlenker’s executives advised against the outright purchase of the Stax building and any attempt to create a tourist attraction at the original site, as it did not seem feasible or practical in the South Memphis neighborhood. It was too far from Beale Street and it lacked of other attractions and hotels, including the recently renovated Peabody Hotel. Also muddying the waters was the neighborhood’s reputation as a poor and crime ridden section of Memphis proved too much of an obstacle to overcome with any kind of community redevelopment program in this short period of time. The neighborhood was infamous for its high-level of crime and poverty. Its median household income was $12,652, fifty percent of its populace lived below the poverty line, and single female households amounted to seventy-percent of the neighborhood population. Add to that, the neighborhood lacked infrastructure and businesses needed to make a tourist attraction
W. Otis Higgs, the attorney for the church, declaring that the building could be purchased for $150,000 and obtaining an agreement from Union Planters to release the property from the covenants. However, an agreement to acquire the building by either Judy McEwen or Sidney Shlenker was never reached. Whether either of them agreed to the price is unknown. But in the end, Reverend Smith decided that the a community center and soup kitchen on the site served the South Memphis community better than any of the proposed uses envisioned by McEwen or Shlenker. Additionally, a few of Shlenker’s executives advised against the outright purchase of the Stax building and any attempt to create a tourist attraction at the original site, as it did not seem feasible or practical in the South Memphis neighborhood. It was too far from Beale Street and it lacked of other attractions and hotels, including the recently renovated Peabody Hotel. Also muddying the waters was the neighborhood’s reputation as a poor and crime ridden section of Memphis proved too much of an obstacle to overcome with any kind of community redevelopment program in this short period of time. The neighborhood was infamous for its high-level of crime and poverty. Its median household income was $12,652, fifty percent of its populace lived below the poverty line, and single female households amounted to seventy-percent of the neighborhood population. Add to that, the neighborhood lacked infrastructure and businesses needed to make a tourist attraction