It’s literally the stuff of legend (local Memphis, in this case): on May 8, 1925, a Black riverman named Tom Lee singlehandedly rescued 32 people, all white, from drowning, when the steamboat M.E. Norman capsized in the murky waters of the Mississippi.

Following his death in 1952, a stretch of public riverfront built on fill at the foot of Beale Street, then known as Astor Park, was rechristened Tom Lee Park. For a Memphian of such heroic repute, having such a prominently sited civic space named in his honor was only fitting. Yet the 30-acre park itself—long, narrow, and chronically underutilized—never lived up to its full potential, existing primarily as a place to pass through while cycling or jogging along a riverfront path or, maybe once a year, visiting for outdoor jazz concerts held during the “Memphis in May” festivities.