Inspiration
Murals installed on Sterick in hopes of attracting investor
One of Downtown’s most notable vacant skyscrapers, the Sterick Building, is getting street-level murals intended to beautify it and inspire potential developers to rehabilitate the 29-story structure.
The Downtown Memphis Commission on Wednesday began installing murals on the building at Third and Madison.
Commission president Paul Morris said the owner, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co., paid for the murals.
“It’s blight-mitigating public art,” Morris said of the murals. “The intention is to inspire action with the Sterick. We’ve been working with the owner trying to put a deal together. This will be an eye-catching piece of public art.”
The commission hired Kyle Taylor, who collaborated with fellow artists Brandon Marshall and Brandon Donahue to design and paint the panels.
Taylor said the scenes depict the world of work in Memphis, harking back to the Sterick’s heyday as “the Clark Tower of the day.”
Images include corporate logos of big companies that had offices there and construction of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge, which Sterick Building workers told stories of watching from their offices.
While the Sterick’s renovation is probably still years away, Morris said the insurance company has been cooperative since the structure was targeted by an anti-blight campaign in 2011.
The Sterick was the tallest building in Memphis from the 1930s into the 1960s, but has been vacant since 1986.
The building is a redevelopment challenge because of its massive size, 330,000 square feet; its age, approaching 90 years; and Downtown’s weak market for office space.