Thread by @softdraggin

So, you've definitely seen the "Bass Pro Pyramid" going around, whether in meme format or just as a curiosity. But how the hell did it come to be? And why fucking Bass Pro Shops?

Let's dig into the kinda-short and actually-pretty-cursed history of this modern mess of a monolith.

As a quick starting note, I'm not a historian, professional nor even casual, so I can't promise 100% accuracy. However, I grew up by this beast, and I can definitely confirm that even the facts surrounding it are weird.

This thread may get long, so BUCKLE UP.

Let's set the scene:

It's 1989. Piggly Wiggly still exists in Memphis, as do local chains like Goldsmith's and Seessel's which hadn't yet been fully consumed by out-of-town chains.

The tourism renaissance had really kicked in since 1982 with Graceland open to the public--Beale Street and Sun Studio were starting to see healthy lives as attractions, along with Mud Island after adding a new museum, a park, and an outdoor amphitheater with a unique setting.

While the tourism industry wasn't hurting, there were some that definitely felt like Memphis could use... more.

Enter Jon Brent Hartz. His father, Mark, had conceived of a series of pyramids to be built overlooking the Mississippi River-three of them, with the largest being 2/3 scale of the Great Pyramid of Giza-in 1954. Naturally, no one wanted to touch a project this ambitious.

Jon, however, came along in the mid 80s and thought, "Hey, why not scale it down and make something iconic for Memphis?" His father Mark rendered a new vision, scaled back, but still very, very iconic, in bronze no less.

When presented with this project, native Tennessee entrepreneur John Tigrett's interest was certainly piqued. It's worth noting John made much of his fortune via, no shit, Glub-Glub the Drinking Duck (among other ventures, of course, but come on, fucking Glub-Glub).

Along with John, his son Isaac (likely better known as the co-founder of Hard Rock Cafe and House of Blues) took interest in this project. Being Tennessee natives, they wanted a new icon that could be associated with the area, along with a new arena.

Just one issue stood in their way:

How the hell were they going to convince the powers that be in Memphis to fund such a boondoggle? They already had the Mid-South Coliseum, and there were plans to expand this along with the fairgrounds in Memphis.

Luckily, being as influential (and of course well off) as the Tigretts were, they had friends in high places. Calling in a favor from Fred Smith (the founder of local giant FedEx, naturally) to chair a public building authority, the discussions went on for nearly a year...

...but it finally got approval. The Great American Pyramid, aka The Tomb of Doom had its groundbreaking not long after in a great boisterous party.

There were grand plans for this new icon: a shortwave radio station, a Hard Rock cafe (naturally), an observation deck at the top, even a theme park on nearby Mud Island to go with it. John Tigrett brought in friend Sidney Shlenker to manage construction.

However, all was not smooth. Nobody would expect such a large project to go off without a hitch, but things started to really fall apart. While Tigrett had contributed significant seed money, Shlenker had been put in charge of the actual construction management/funding.

A falling out between the two led to Shlenker (and the City of Memphis) having to pick up the remaining tab, and Shlenker was left responsible for promises that had been made by Tigrett and city leaders with a shrinking budget.

(Note this isn't to fully defend Shlenker, who had suspicions of fraud floating around him as well, but it was definitely a situation that wouldn't have been ideal for even the most efficient management).

Fast-forward to 1991. Shlenker files for chapter 11, owing over $16 million to creditors. Dick Hackett is beaten by Willie Herenton by under 200 votes (out of ~250,000 total), and the pyramid project is labeled as one of several reasons to blame for the loss.

But it opened. And oh, how it opened. While most of the plans had been scrapped in favor of having a working arena, Memphis indeed got its icon, shining over the Mississippi River (okay, the Wolf River Harbor if you want to get technical).

The Pyramid is set to open with a concert by country duo The Judds. Naturally, this can't go smoothly either--the bathrooms flood during the opening concert, and the main floor has to be sandbagged around the stage to protect the electronics underneath. Oops.

Things did smooth out not long after though--the Memphis State (at the time) Tigers basketball team moved from the Mid-South Coliseum to the Pyramid. Concerts and other athletics started picking up. The Pyramid was seeing wide use.

The AFL team the Memphis Pharaohs even used it as their indoor stadium, helping to give it its colloquial name "The Tomb of Doom".

Not only did it house grand events, but it also had a dedicated area for exhibits. In 1997, naturally coinciding with the release of the James Cameron movie, they hosted an exhibit featuring many relics surfaced from the wreck of the Titanic:

nytimes.com/1997/04/06/tra…

So, what could possibly set something that at least seemed to be running smoothly so off course? The same thing that caused issues in the first place, naturally: Ambition.

The Vancouver Grizzlies weren't a great NBA team, but they were -an NBA team-, and they had just been bought by Michael Heisley. Despite a promise to keep the team local in 2000 on purchase, by 2001 he was looking for a US city to move them to. Memphis was on the shortlist.

Memphis hadn't had a professional basketball team since the days of the ABA-since 1975, specifically. This would be a big get, especially with the local popularity of the Memphis Tigers basketball team. Memphis courted Heisley for the rights to host the Grizzlies...

...and as anyone remotely familiar with the NBA in the past decade probably knows, Memphis got their wish. They finally had a new NBA team.

So, why was this a problem of ambition for a city with a unique and ready-to-go arena? Despite the Grizzlies starting off in the Pyramid, it became very obvious very quickly that while the arena was perfectly suited for college ball, it was not up to NBA specs.

Surveying was done, estimates were given, and it became clear that it would be cheaper to build a new arena from scratch than to try to get The Tomb of Doom up to spec. Enter the FedExForum, the city's shiny new (and fully up-to-spec) arena.

The groundbreaking for the new arena occurred in June 2002, barely a decade after the Pyramid opened. The Grizzlies continued to use the Pyramid until the FedExForum was officially opened in 2004--even the setback of "Hurricane Elvis" didn't manage to stop the construction.

As a side note, if you're not familiar with the weather event cited above, I do suggest reading about it sometime. It was largely ignored by national news, but much of the city (myself included) was without power for weeks after:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_S…

Along with the Grizzlies, the University of Memphis (née Memphis State) Tigers moved into the new arena. It was unquestionably better for any events-sports, concerts, or any other events all had more space and more seating available now.

But why let the Pyramid drop off the map just because there was a new arena in town? Why throw one cake in the garbage instead of just having two cakes, even if one is a bit smaller? Well, back to that courting I mentioned...

In the contract that was drawn up to satisfy the soon-to-be Memphis Grizzlies, they were given full say over the use of the Pyramid. No events could happen there without their approval. The Memphis Pyramid went dark.

There were still some events after the move, but they were few and far between. The last concert played there was in 2007, Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band.

Memphis once more had a problem on their hands. The Pyramid was again a money pit, with no net, just maintenance fees.

Talks of what to do with the building did start as early as 2005. There were ideas to make it into a shopping mall, perhaps an aquarium. Congressman Steve Cohen even voiced his thoughts to turn it into a "Mid-American Branch of the Smithsonian Institution." Nothing really stuck.

Rumors started bubbling up, though. Rumblings of churches wanting to buy the building, this retailer or that company wanting to turn it into their own spectacle. One name did keep coming up, though, for better or for worse: Bass Pro.

Speaking as a local (at the time), most people thought it was just a joke. What would Bass Pro do with such a massive structure? How could this possibly be of value to them? Who could start such a silly rumor?

In June 2010, after a confirmed 5 years of negotiations, BPS Direct LLC (traded under the name Bass Pro Shops) signed a 55 year lease on what was formerly known as the Great American Pyramid. The Memphis skyline was soon after changed.

It took an additional five years for renovations to be done to the Pyramid and for the largest Bass Pro Shops location in the world to open. While the outside is certainly a spectacle, if you haven't looked inside, I highly recommend you do; even with the context it's impressive.

BPS even implemented some of the ideas that had not made it into the structure originally. The tallest freestanding elevator in America will take you up to the publicly open observation deck-this differs from Tigrett's original plan of using an inclinator, but is still impressive

Additionally, inside you can find a shooting range, an archery range, bowling lanes, an aquarium, and a 103 room hotel, many of whose rooms overlook the store proper below. While it's still an odd use of the space, I can't argue that they didn't use it well.

So there you have it. The legacy of the Great American Pyramid.

Well, almost. Some with prior knowledge of the Pyramid are likely clenching their fists that I left out a crucial detail from the story here, one that many attribute the building's curse to. Yep. The crystal skull.

I've been doing my best to stick to facts here, and it's tough to separate fact from legend when it comes to the crystal skull. From everything I've found and read, I can conclude that the crystal skull definitely exists, but the other details around this are iffy at best.

So, those who DON'T know may be wondering what I'm talking about here. Naturally I wanted to save the best for last.

Prior to the Pyramid's opening, construction crews were hired to weld a small metal box near the pinnacle of the Pyramid. Rumors floated around this-that it was done late at night, that the workers were dressed in black, the usual mysterious/creepy rumor business.

The rumors stirred the management of the Pyramid. Not long after the opening (in December of 1991 specifically), they formed a small expedition with county officials and climbed up to check.

And there was the box.

They pulled it down and cracked it open the next week.

What was inside? A wooden box. And inside that? A velvet box. And inside -that-?

A goddamn crystal skull.

But wait! There were also some papers and fax transmissions found linking it to... none other than Isaac Tigrett. The rumor mill spun even more.

The very next day, Isaac confirmed he had the skull placed there...as part of a time capsule to generate future publicity for the pyramid. The skull was returned to him, and (to our knowledge) not returned to the apex of the Pyramid.

But surely there was more to it, right? Isaac is purportedly into mysticism, could it be that removing the skull cast a curse that sealed the fate of The Tomb of Doom?

I say no, particularly because the bathrooms flooded on opening night, even before the skull was retrieved. This boondoggle was doomed from the start.

"Who knows what's going to happen to this Pyramid in the long run, how successful it's going to be or not be." - Bass Pro Shops owner/founder Johnny Morris, at the grand opening of the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid.

At least this guy gets that going in.

Anyway, I hope you've gotten at least some entertainment or new trivia knowledge out of this thread. Have a nice day!

Guess this has gotten enough attention that i can pin on one of those "wow this blowed up" tweets

If you like this thread, considering helping a Memphis area institution; Le Bonheur is one of the best children's hospitals I know of!

lebonheur.org/ways-to-help/