MEMPHIS, TN – Bass Pro, and a new convention center are just two of the many projects that will linger after July 10, 2009.
"These issues don’t go away just because a person or people change. The same opportunities we’re looking at will still be opportunities tomorrow," says Kevin Kane with the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Kane hopes the next mayor will help resolve these unfinished projects. "At some point in time elected officials will have to make a decision. Is this something that’s a priority for this community or is this something we’re going to have to put on hold for another time?"
Concerned taxpayer Robert Phillips agrees. He says, "If we are going to cry about the economy, we need to put something into the economy."
For years, the question has been what to put in the tomb of doom. The vacant Pyramid has cost taxpayers millions of dollars. The next mayor will have to work with both city and county leaders to push this project along.
"We’re having a great summer from the tourism point of view," says Kane. But just like the temperatures, things will soon cool off, now that COGIC(Church of God in Christ), the city’s biggest convention, is leaving. The next mayor will have to work with the Convention and visitors Bureau to generate revenue for the city.
Phillips says bringing in money should be priority number one. "The taxpayers, we the ones that suffer the most and if you not going to put something in that’s going to benefit the people, I don’t know why you get this position."
