Crosstown Pulls Permit For Performing Arts Center

Crosstown Concourse contractor Grinder, Taber & Grinder Inc. has applied for an $8.4 million building permit to begin construction on a new theater and performing arts building as part of the concourse campus.

The 450-seat theater at 1350 Concourse Ave. is a 28,000-square-foot building designed by LRK that is to include a Digital Cinema Package projection system, a sprung-wood floor stage, retractable seating and a modular open floor that allows for different layouts depending on the event.

Construction of the venue is financed with an $11 million tax-exempt bond approved this month by the Center City Revenue Finance Corp. Construction is to begin in October with an opening scheduled for November of 2017.

– Bill Dries

Jimmy Ogle Named Peabody Duckmaster

Shelby County Historian Jimmy Ogle has another title connected to the city’s history.

Ogle is new Peabody Duckmaster effective Thursday, Sept. 22, the hotel announced. He is the sixth Duckmaster in the history of the hotel where the tradition of ducks in the lobby fountain began in 1933 when hotel general manager Frank Schutt and a fellow duck hunter put their live decoy ducks in the fountain as a joke.

Seven years later, the hotel hired Edward Pembroke, a circus animal trainer, as a bellman and Pembroke offered to help bring the ducks to the fountain each day. Pembroke also created the twice-daily duck marches to the fountain.

Ogle’s duties, in addition to caring for the five North American mallards and overseeing their public appearances elsewhere, will include serving as the hotel’s in-house historian and expanding the hotel’s tours and memorabilia collection.

– Bill Dries

Memphis, Bowling Green Coaches Fighting MD

When the University of Memphis and Bowling Green meet Saturday, Sept. 24, at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, the coaching staffs will be wearing special arm patches in honor of the AFCA’s Coach to Cure MD program.

This is the ninth year coaches around the country are joining together to raise funding and awareness of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Fans are encouraged to donate by texting “CURE” to 90999 or visiting www.CoachtoCureMD.org and to use the social tags: @CoachtoCureMD and #tackleDuchenne.

Coach to Cure MD is a partnership between the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and Parent Project MD. Over the last eight years, the program has raised more than $1.2 million. Last year, more than 10,000 coaches at 525 colleges at all levels participated.

– Don Wade

DU Rice & Ducks Display Opens at Bass Pro Pyramid

The Ducks Unlimited Waterfowling Heritage Center, located inside Bass Pro Shops at the Pyramid, has unveiled a new display about U.S.-grown rice and its importance to wintering waterfowl across the country.

Key features of the rice and ducks display, which opened this week in celebration of National Rice Month, include a video, educational panels, a model rice farm and information about the USA Rice-Ducks Unlimited Rice Stewardship Partnership.

“The Waterfowling Heritage Center plays a large part in honoring our hunting and conservation heritage, while also educating Bass Pro Shops guests about DU’s vision of wetlands sufficient to fill the skies with waterfowl today, tomorrow and forever,” said Ducks Unlimited CEO Dale Hall in a statement. “With this new section of the exhibit, about 400,000 visitors each year will also learn about the importance of rice agriculture to waterfowl, people and other wildlife.”

Half the world’s population depends on rice for nourishment, and the managed wetlands provided by working ricelands ensure critical habitat for hundreds of species, many of them threatened or endangered.

Nearly 900 members of the rice industry will convene in Memphis this December for the annual USA Rice Outlook Conference.

– Daily News staff

Huey’s Restaurants Nabs Three State Awards

Huey’s Restaurants won three separate honors in the annual statewide Stars of the Industry Awards presented by the Tennessee Hospitality and Tourism Association.

Jimmy Lee, general manager at Huey’s Germantown, 7677 Farmington Blvd., has been selected as the 2016 TnHTA Restaurant Manager of the Year. He’s been with Huey’s since 1996.

Anna Cade, head server at Huey’s Poplar, 4872 Poplar Ave., has been selected as the 2016 TnHTA Restaurant Employee of the Year. She started at Huey’s Poplar in 2007.

Finally, Huey’s Restaurants as a whole was selected as the 2016 TnHTA Community Service Award winner.

– Andy Meek

MUS to Honor Former Coach With Plaza Naming, Statue

Memphis University School will dedicate the plaza area of its football stadium as Jacob Courtnay Rudolph Plaza next Friday, Sept. 30, and unveil a bronze statue of the school’s former football coach.

Jake Rudolph came to MUS in 1959 and served as head football coach and athletic director for 39 years. During his tenure, Rudolph’s football teams went 295-119-4, winning 10 district titles, six regional titles, two state runner-up titles, and the 1985 state AA championship.

The dedication was prompted by and funded by Owl football alumni spanning four decades.

Rudolph was honored over the years with many awards, including Tennessee Coach of the Year, the Rex Dockery Award, the Lawrenceburg Touchdown Club Coach of the Year, and the Memphis Quarterback Club Coach of the Year.

Posthumously, he was inducted into the TSSAA Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame, the Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, and the Georgia Tech Athletics Hall of Fame.

The ceremony, open to the public, will take place at Stokes Stadium, 6191 Park Ave., at 4 p.m. on Sept. 30 before the Owls homecoming game against St. Benedict.

– Daily News staff