will be leading the charge when it comes to the restoration, not just from aesthetic point of view, but also determining what area will flood every year and which plants are needed to transition the existing fields to hardwood bottomland, meadows, and swamp for the long term. Currently, Ducks Unlimited Park is in the final stages of completing a park master plan with Richie Smith Associates, a Memphis landscape architecture firm experienced with local parks and parks all along the Mississippi. Ware expects a final edited version to the master plan later this summer and then they will compare and contrast costs and fundraising expectations. Fundraising will be ongoing over the next year or two. Groundbreaking for the first of several amenities is planned for Fall <strong>2023</strong>. Ideas include a welcome center, low impact meandering trails with an elevated boardwalk that connects to an outdoor classroom and hardwood swamps, a retriever training area, and an off-leash dog park. The ultimate goal will be a raised pavilion at the corner of Dacus Lake Road near the I-40 Bridge that will look back toward Memphis. The mound itself will be several hundred yards wide, an elevated open air pavilion with a sunflower meadow out front and multiple staggered seating areas on the mound area facing the river. This summer some flowers will again be planted that will bloom in <strong>Jul</strong>y and early <strong>Aug</strong>ust. The almost six-mile trail through the park, once gravel, is now paved and swings to a viewing area near the river. Shade awnings are planned for this trail. There is also a connection to Big River Levee Trail, which is currently part of a gravel 76-mile trail system that connects the levees from Marion, TN to Marianna, AR, and will eventually be part of a 1,607-mile levee trail that connects from the Mississippi to the headwaters of the Gulf of Mexico. Entering this park, Ware says, will be a different experience. “When you step over there, that land that’s in-between the levees over the last 100 years has really created its own ecosystem. There’s much more biodiversity in that little area than there is basically within 100 miles of here. That's the way it is with the entire Mississippi levee. There’s different trees, different fauna, different bird species that stay on the property there, different insects.” Ducks Unlimited Park will complement Memphis River Parks Partnership, the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, and other Memphis green spaces. More green space here will also help to attract corporations, Ware hopes. He explains that Tennessee has many advantages for corporations to relocate here and this park will be another reason for them to prefer Memphis over Nashville and Chattanooga, in addition to encouraging the wonderful people who are growing up here to choose Memphis, and for those of us who live here to enjoy it. Ware says the city of Memphis has been supportive of the park and he notes that Tom Lee Park and Ducks Unlimited Park will literally and figuratively connect by way of the bridge– one park will be extended to the other. “Coming out of the pandemic, any small business owner will tell you that quality of life was important before, but that factor has gone through the roof. We recognize that, the city recognizes that, Arkansas recognizes that, and I think that's why a lot of major corporations are willing to step up. We hope to be just one of the many parts of a bigger partnership project that extends this kind of habitat restoration up and down the river all the way down to New Orleans. There is actually a lot that could be done without very much effort.” A green, sustainable investment in the future of Memphis: this is a reason for Memphians to keep walking across the Big River. 14 Memphis Green | JUL+AUG <strong>2023</strong> | focuslgbt.com
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