What do you do with a giant pyramid that’s been unused for over a decade? You turn it into a Bass Pro Shops of course. At least that’s what the legendary outdoors company did with the landmark Pyramid in Memphis.
The 535,000 square-foot facility where the Memphis Grizzlies formerly played sits next to the Mississippi River in Memphis, Tennessee. It had stood unused since 2004 and reportedly took four years to be converted into the fishing megastore.
Since 1991, the pyramid has become an iconic symbol in Memphis, like the Gateway Arch is to St. Louis, Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau told the Kansas City Star.
“With an opportunity like this, it will become an attraction that will bring millions of people to its doorstep,” he told the paper.
The company would not say how much it cost to convert the Bass Pro Shops into a 32-story facility, only that it was significant. The City of Memphis for its part invested $100 million in the surrounding area as the revived landmark is expected to attract 2 million visitors per year, according to the Washington Times.
Along with housing nearly everything an outdoorsman could possibly imagine, the facility also holds a man-made cypress swamp that covers most of the store’s ground level. There’s a bowling alley, a 105-room luxury hotel and even live animal attractions.
Like other Bass Pro Shops, the Pyramid location also offers a restaurant—The Lookout—which is located near the top of the store and provides panoramic views via an observation deck.
Photo credit: Bob Marquart, Flickr Creative Commons
