First a point some points of clarification:  This blog was spawned as a photo blog, and, henceforth, will be, with a minimum of commentary.  My verbiage in this series was based on a report on Channel 3 whose source, The Center City Commission, describes the buildings as “the Center City Commission’s list of ten downtown redevelopment sites that are important to the health and vitality of our city.”  However, the CCC did name it’s file top102.pdf.  My goal here is to post photos of Memphis from my personal perspective.  If you are interested in preservation, you will not find any better insight than the Gates of Memphis Blog. I posed the title as a question as a challenge to those who have the resources to do something with these buildings.  Do you think they are worth it?

Left is the Goyer-Lee House in Victorian Village (c. 1871), another from the list.  It’s a beauty, but has suffered from years of neglect.  It’s under the control of the Memphis Housing Authority. Would they sell it?  Can it be zoned for residential use again, or would a commercial use be more appropriate?

At one time Vance Ave., East of Danny Thomas was lined with similar mansions.  To my knowledge only one stands, partially restored.  The others were razed, burned, or left as piles of rubble.

The Kress Building, at  9 N Main,   is described in Memphis-An Architectural Guide, by Eugene J Johnson and Robert D. Russell, Jr. as a “wild replay of Florentine Renaissance motifs in terra cotta “.  Built in 1927, the building’s  bright colors have cannot be missed as you exet Court Square  onto Mainand look southwest.

I remember one of the highlights of going Downtown as a child was going to Kress to look at the toys.  But toys were quite different back then.

Another from the CCC list of top 10 Downtown buildings worth saving.