Crosstown High aims for fall 2018 opening
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Crosstown High will open in the fall of 2018, phasing in grades over a period of four years, the school’s board of directors said in an email Tuesday.
The Shelby County Schools Board of Education last month approved Crosstown High for a 2017 opening as a charter school, partnering with Christian Brothers University.
Instead, the school now will hold off a year and open with 125 students in the ninth grade.
The extra year will allow the school time to recruit leaders and teachers, solicit community input about the direction of the school and finish designing and building the space inside the Crosstown Concourse building, school officials said. The 1.1 million-square-foot former Sears warehouse in Midtown is undergoing major renovations to house the school and other tenants including arts, education and health initiatives.
“Our first order of business is to build the team of education professionals who will bring our vision for Crosstown High to life. To that end, we are conducting a nationwide search for our founding Executive Director and Principal,” Meg Crosby, chairwoman of the search committee for the board of directors, said in an email.
Council member Martavius Jones and others noted that the agreement wouldn’t apply to Saulsberry’s company, The DSG Group, if he brought the council a check for $25 million to buy the long-vacant landmark — a step Saulsberry says he’s willing and able to take.
But Tuesday’s vote to accept the minutes means Saulsberry will have to wait to see if Wiseacre backs out of the lease within the 180day due-diligence period.
Wiseacre owners say they will invest about $12 million into the property. Plans presented last month called for the city to lease 60,000 square feet on the first floor of the Coliseum to Wiseacre, which would rent the remaining space to a mix of businesses that might include restaurants, a bowling alley, climbing walls, a wrestling museum and a civil rights homage.
As in the Aug. 23 meeting, several council members said they were skeptical of Saulsberry’s revenue projections, which he reduced substantially for his presentation to the council Tuesday.
He initially estimated that the redevelopment would have an economic impact of $90 million, but reduced that to $15 million to be more “conservative.”
Saulsberry presented a letter of commitment from Baltimore-based Allied Athletic Group LLC (AAG) promising to lend The DSG Group $25 million for the redevelopment project.
But council member Berlin Boyd questioned the validity of AAG, saying a quick address search showed the company was located in what looked like a house.
Also during Tuesday’s meeting:
University of Memphis President David Rudd and Mayor Jim Strickland showed their support for a tax increment-financing plan, or TIF district, proposed by the University Neighborhood Development Corp. in the University District-Highland Row area.
The district, which must be approved by the state, would include 601 tax parcels on or near Highland between Poplar and Park.
“I would say this is an essential priority for the university, critical to our future,” Rudd said.
The TIF district would capture an estimated $83.4 million over 20 years, 22.8 percent of which would be reinvested in the district by the Economic Development Growth Engine. The rest would go to the city and the county.
An ordinance restricting the times and places where panhandling is allowed will go to Memphis City Council with a positive recommendation.
The council’s Public Safety & Homeland Security Committee voted to recommend the ordinance, which would expand the 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. ban on panhandling to between 5 p.m. and 10 a.m. The ordinance also would require panhandlers to stay at least 25 feet from intersections with lights, construction zones, bridges and interstate entrance and exit ramps.
A final vote could come as early as Oct. 18.