25 years ago: 1987
County Mayor Bill Morris said yesterday he has suggested that backers of a proposed downtown pyramid-arena consider forming a sports or building authority to finance a $39 million facility without direct use of city- county funds. In a report to County Commission members, Morris said that if such an approach is feasible, the city and county might build streets and provide parking for the facility with revenue from the parking going back to the governments.
50 years ago: 1962
Around the flaming globe in World War II and through the smallbore Armageddon of Korea, they marched and fought and died with the pride of free men, the pride in being American that made them unbeatable. Today their city and county will begin paying them lasting tribute with a landmark as permanent as their valor and as shining as their sacrifice. A fountaintype stone and aluminum memorial to the heroic dead of Shelby County in the two wars will be unveiled in front of the Post Office Building at Front and
A report set for Tuesday will update local elected officials about suppliers and local and minority participation in the Electrolux project .
“There will be a substantial progress to report,” Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said Thursday following a meeting with Electrolux officials, Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell, Electrolux’s general contractor and local economic development officials.
“We’re going to see this through to the end so everybody benefits,” Luttrell said.
The closed- door meeting at county offices Downtown was called after members of the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission complained about the Electrolux contract.
The city and county committed at least $40 million worth of incentives to the project. Total subsidies for the new kitchen-appliance factory in Southwest Memphis, including state and federal money, as well as longterm tax breaks, are expected to surpass $188.3 million.
The contract did not mandate local or minority participation, and a payment-inlieu- of-tax deal valued at roughly $33.9 million exempted Electrolux from diversity requirements that have been a condition for other companies receiving local tax breaks.
In December, Electrolux announced Yates & Sons of Philadelphia, Miss., as gen-