A quarter-century ago, AutoZone Park gave Downtown a jump-start
On April 1, 2000, the Redbirds opened AutoZone Park at Third Street and Union Avenue in Downtown Memphis by playing the Cardinals in an exhibition game before a full house. (The Daily Memphian file)
After decades of decline, Downtown started to rebound — and perhaps nothing spurred the comeback quite like the 2000 opening of AutoZone Park at Third and Union. The whole atmosphere changed. Or as now-retired AutoZone executive Ray Pohlman remembers: “Downtown was cool ... it just flourished.”
Topics
AutoZone Park Downtown Memphis Redbirds Ray Pohlman Allie Prescott Paul Young Kevin Kane Craig Unger Ben Johnson Subscriber OnlyThank you for supporting local journalism.
Subscribers to The Daily Memphian help fund our not-for-profit newsroom of nearly 40 local journalists plus more than 20 freelancers, all of whom work around the clock to cover the issues impacting our community. Subscriptions - and donations - also help fund our community access programs which provide free access to K-12 schools, community organizations, and more. Thank you for making our work possible.
Don Wade
Don Wade has been a Memphis journalist since 1998 and he has won awards for both his sports and news/feature writing. He is originally from Kansas City and is married with three sons.
Want to comment on our stories or respond to others? Join the conversation by subscribing now. Only paid subscribers can add their thoughts or upvote/downvote comments. Our commenting policy can be viewed here.