A working penal and rehabilitation farm until the 1960s, subsequently chosen by the Shelby County Commission for future public recreational use, the 4,500-acre Shelby Farms site some 10 miles east of Memphis will soon reassert its status as one of the nation’s premier urban parks, with the nonprofit Shelby Farms Park Conservancy, which manages 2,900 acres of the site, inviting local, national and international architectural and planning firms to seek a $450,000 contract for a park improvement master plan.

The response deadline, writes Conservancy spokeswoman Pamela Perkins in the Memphis Commercial Appeal, is 10 October, with three top firms selected by 12 November to enter an ”Innovative Design Competition,” and their plans exhibited between 6-26 March at the city’s central library.

With the advice of nationally-known urban planner Alex Garvin, and based on extensive public input, the winning plan will be announced 9 April.

County Mayor A C Wharton and the County Commission are expected to have the plan ready for approval about two months later.

Conservancy Chairman Calvin Anderson said officials and residents ”are looking for creative, sensitive designs” and a master plan ensuring a sense of community, financial sustainability and environmental sensibility.

More about Shelby Farms, the conservancy and the park master plan competition at www.shelbycountytn.gov and www.sfparkalliance.org.

Via: Smart Growth Online