Kyles Services Friday At Mason Temple

Retired Monumental Baptist Church pastor and Memphis civil rights leader Samuel Billy Kyles will be remembered Friday, May 6, with a community celebration of his life at Mason Temple Church of God In Christ, 930 Mason St.

The memorial starts at 4 p.m. and is open to the public.

Kyles died April 26 at the age of 81, several years after retiring from the pulpit of the church he led starting in 1959 when he moved to Memphis from Chicago.

Kyles founded the nation’s second chapter of Operation PUSH in the 1970s and was a close ally of Operation PUSH founder Rev. Jesse Jackson.

He was standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968, just before King was assassinated. King was preparing to leave the motel for dinner at Kyles’ home when he was shot.

– Bill Dries

Hnedak Bobo Moves To One Commerce Square

Hnedak Bobo Group is moving its headquarters from 104 S. Front St. to One Commerce Square. The architecture firm had occupied 104 S. Front for the past 25 years.

Grinder, Taber & Grinder recently applied for a $1.6 million building permit to renovate two floors of the 30-story Downtown office building at 40 S. Main.

Hnedak Bobo employs 28 full-time licensed architects, making it the largest firm in Memphis.

– Madeline Faber

Financial Federal Bank Executive Wins Award

Rick Wood, Financial Federal Bank executive vice president and manager of its commercial/multifamily division, has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Memphis Chapter of the Lambda Alpha International Land Economics Society.

The Memphis chapter’s annual Lifetime Achievement award honors a local leader for his or her contribution and commitment to the development and preservation of land in Memphis. Wood has been involved in commercial lending for 37 years, the last 23 on behalf of Financial Federal Bank.

He leads Financial Federal’s commercial real estate lending team in Memphis, Atlanta and Nashville offices.

– Andy Meek

Aspire to Open New Charter School

Aspire Public Schools is opening a new kindergarten through first-grade charter school in Hickory Hill. Montgomery Martin Contractors recently applied for a $3.3 million building permit at 6870 Winchester Road, the site of a former Haverty’s furniture store.

The building permit application lists the project as a one-story elementary school, with Aspire Public Schools as the tenant.

On its Facebook page, Aspire Memphis posted on March 28 that it currently enrolling for students for the founding class of Aspire International East at 6870 Winchester Road.

According to the Shelby County Assessor of Property, the building is owned by Aren Investments. It was built in 1995 and bears 48,768 square feet.

– Madeline Faber

University of Memphis, MSO Form Partnership

The University of Memphis and the Memphis Symphony Orchestra have announced a unique partnership. In an unprecedented collaboration between a university and a professional symphony orchestra, MSO will partner with the U of M to create the premier destination in the Mid-South for music training and performance, music outreach and arts-centered, cross-sector community development.

“It’s great for the city, great for the symphony and great for the University of Memphis,” university president M. David Rudd said in a statement.

The Memphis Symphony Orchestra in Residence at the University of Memphis will offer a series of world-class symphonic music on campus, while retaining a presence at The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. These top-quality performances at the U of M will create an opportunity for students, faculty, patrons and all citizens of the Mid-South to experience the full range of musical offerings created by the partnership.

“This is a game-changer for the MSO,” said Gayle S. Rose, chairman of the board.

The MSO’s body of professional musicians will complement the world-class faculty at the U of M School of Music, creating a one-stop shop for aspiring musicians in the Mid-South. In addition, the MSO’s global music network will attract leading ensembles and soloists to campus. Four guest conductors or soloists will provide master classes for U of M students each year.

The collaboration also will position Memphis as a hub for arts-centered social innovation. The Institute for the Arts, Social Enterprise and Entrepreneurism will engage the MSO, U of M faculty and students, and community partners in developing arts-centered solutions for two sectors: business and government. The Institute will provide practical, problem-solving services in Memphis and catalog the city’s efforts to utilize arts and culture as a catalyst for social change.

“The U of M-MSO partnership re-establishes the close ties that helped sustain each organization in its formative years,” said John Chiego, director of the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. “It promises to allow both to attain new heights of national and international prominence. This is a great collaboration for our students, our program and for all music in Memphis.”

– Don Wade

Cotton Plant Shops Sell for $2.3 Million

A Winchester shopping strip has sold for $2.3 million in a May 1 warranty deed.

Gregory Realty GP sold the property at 7237 Winchester Road to 7237 Realty LLC.

In conjunction with the sale, 7237 Realty LLC took over a $2.3 million mortgage. Gregory Realty signed as lender, and Hamad Ali signed as borrower for the loan and chief manager of 7237 Realty LLC.

According to the Shelby County Assessor of Property, the multi-tenant center was built in 1988 and bears 48,768 square feet. It was most recently appraised at $1.7 million.

– Madeline Faber

Memphis Men’s Golf Team Makes Wisconsin Regional

Following an outstanding season capped by a runner-up finish at the 2016 American Athletic Conference Championships, the University of Memphis men’s golf team has earned an at-large spot at the Wisconsin Regional, hosted by Marquette University on May 16-18 at Blackwolf Run Meadow Valleys Course in Kohler, Wisc.

There are six regional tournaments in all that consist of 13 teams and 10 individuals not on those teams. There are three other regionals that will have 14 teams and five individuals. The low five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team will advance to the NCAA Championships, to be hosted by the University of Oregon on May 27-June 1.

Joining No. 40 Memphis at the regional will be No. 4 Illinois, No. 10 Florida State, No. 16 Florida, No. 21 Arkansas, No. 28 Baylor, No. 33 Penn State, No. 45 Kent State, No. 53 UCLA, No. 58 East Tennessee State, No. 65 Campbell, No. 108 Idaho, and No. 182 South Dakota State.

This season Memphis has competed against seven of the 13 schools in the region, with the majority of those coming from the Valspar Collegiate on March 21-22 (Illinois, Florida State, Florida, Arkansas, and Kent State), while the team also saw Florida in the Mason Rudolph Championship, Baylor at the Maxwell, and South Dakota State in the fall at the Quail Valley Collegiate.

– Don Wade