Nothing new under the sun

Back in early May, the CPOP board finally got our chance to go behind the curtain for a big meet-up with the leaders of the Memphis Zoo. We mailed this followup letter to summarize our concerns (no response yet, but we live in hope).

During that meeting the Memphis Zoo's president and CEO, Charles Brady, told us that the fate of our old-growth parkland was decided by public consensus 20 years ago when the Zoo was allowed to expand from 36 acres to 70 acres under the 1988 Overton Park Master Plan.

We still don't have a copy of this plan, because nobody else seems to have a copy either. It's starting to seem like a mythical creature.

But we have unearthed an 18-year-old Commercial Appeal editorial which proves that our 17-acre Enchanted Forest was not, in fact, fenced off without a fight. Click the image to enlarge:


Well, would you look at that.