In another of a series of steps aimed at improving the crown jewel of Memphis parks, Shelby Farms Park has named Rick Masson its new Executive Director. Formerly the Executive Director for the Plough Foundation, Masson has also served as the chief administrator and Director of Finance for the City of Memphis in the past. Masson will have his hands full this fall, when the New York-based company, “field operations,” unveils its master plan for the park in August.

    The Shelby Farms Park Conservancy (SFPC) held a competition this year to determine which firm would create the design for the re-creation of the park to “attract new users and help the park reach its potential,” according to the SFPC, and “field operations” won the contract in April. (Incidentally, Driven respects the right of any company to refuse the use of upper case letters in its title, as “field operations” has done. It's just confusing to readers, that's all.)
    Shelby Farms is one of the largest urban parks in the United States. Encompassing 4,500 acres, it covers more than five times the area of Central Park in New York City, with 843 acres. Shelby Farms park was converted from property that was privately owned in the late 1800s and includes several lakes, natural forests, and the wetlands of the Wolf River. At the eastern end of Shelby Farms park, remains of a small early settlement from the late 1800s can be found. Runners and cyclists may have seen the ruins of a residential building, a disintegrated barn, car wrecks dating from the 1950s and 1960s, old fences and a family burial site. There are no records explaining how and when this private property was incorporated into Shelby Farms park. From 1929 until 1964 Shelby Farms was used as the Shelby County Jail’s penal farm.     However, the park was opened for recreational purposes in the 1970s, although parts of the park are still used as a partial penal farm. Some inmates of the Shelby County Jail, as well as individuals sentenced to community service, do yard work to keep the fields in shape or pick up litter on nearby streets.

    The Shelby Farms Park Alliance (SFPA) was granted a conservation easement by the Shelby County Commission in December 2006, which restricts commercial and residential development in the park area for 50 years. In 2007, Shelby County Mayor A.C. Wharton and the SFPA signed an agreement forming the Shelby Farms Park Conservancy (SFPC), a public and private non-profit partnership established by Shelby County government to help provide day-to-day operations of the park and to develop a planning process for the future of Shelby Farms park. The SFPC will unveil the master plans this fall. Visit www.shelbyfarmspark.org for more information about the park and planned renovations.