High-flying lawn ornament
A Fedex plane may soon be perched outside East High School.
If a land use variation is approved next month, a Fedex plane could eventually be perched on the front lawn of East High School.
The plane under consideration is a historic, single-engine Beechcraft Musketeer, Shelby County Schools Director of Facility Planning Michelle L. Stuart said in a letter included in a Board of Adjustment application.
Engineers at Fedex would work with East High students to design and build the display stand that will hold the Beechcraft Musketeer that Fedex has agreed to donate to the school, the letter said.
The partnership between the school and Fedex is part of a new program that has turned East High into a T-STEM (Transportation-science, Technology, Engineering and Math) magnet school.
“East High School has partnered with The University of Memphis and various industry partners, including Fedex Express, to provide a rigorous, college preparatory curriculum for students and prepare them for success in STEM careers including the transportation sector and beyond,” Stuart wrote in her letter.
The plane is about 8 feet tall and 32 feet wide. The stand that the students will design is expected to be about 10 feet tall. The height of the structure will depend on the final design of the base and the positioning of the plane.
“This project will hone in on women in aviation and connect female students with an interest in the aviation field with women working in the field,” a project summary prepared by Fedex and included in the application said. “Volunteers for this effort will include aviation students and teachers, engineers, mechanics, managers, executives and data analysts.”
The project is expected to begin in the spring. Fedex will pay for the cost of the project, but SCS will maintain the monument once it is complete.
Current land use rules state that “no accessory structure shall extend forward from the front of the building” but Stuart argued that those rules generally apply to significantly smaller residential lots. East High’s lot is about 36 acres.
The land use requirements “are oriented primarily towards single-family uses, where a monument or similar accessory structure in the front yard would likely be inappropriate,” Stuart wrote. “In this case, a monument will bolster the educational goals of East High School while providing a sense of pride for the East High School community.” The variance will be discussed at a public meeting at 2 p.m. on March 25 in the fifth floor conference room inside City Hall at 125 N. Main St.
Desiree Stennett covers economic development and business at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at desiree.stennett@commercialappeal.com, 901-529-2738 or on Twitter: @desi_stennett.