First steel beams go up at the Southaven Tanger Outlet site

Retail Retell posted about the coming Tanger Outlets just last week: http://midsouthretail.blogspot.com/2015/03/desoto-county-retail-target-but.html?spref=bl. Suddenly, March 24, 2015, mere days later, new steelwork is going up at the site:

 

This is more than likely an outlot building of some sort. A couple of weeks ago, some large temporary tents were erected on site for the groundbreaking ceremony, which I failed to get pictures of. So I thought I would take the time to document this occasion. Unfortunately, I didn't have my little point-and-shoot zoom lens camera with me, so this close-cropped cell phone pic will have to do.

I would certainly be more in favor of this whole outlet mall thing if the needed road improvements were currently in place. Church Rd. is already a traffic snarl at certain times of the day, and often total gridlock when events are taking place at the nearby Landers Center. If the proposed improvements to the I-55 interchange are still in the early planning stages, as the article that Retail Retell linked to seems to imply, then this outlet mall will likely open long before any road construction even starts. I clearly remember reading an article stating than I-55 would be widened all the way to Hernando by 1994! Guess what? It's 2015, and much of I-55 through DeSoto County remains as it was the day it opened, circa 1964. The mayor wasn't exaggerating when he said these improvements are needed urgently.

One other thing, the "powers that be" are opening up a drainage ditch right across the street from the main mall site, not too far from houses and a church, and apparently plan on using it as a water runoff retention area. Really!?? I would hope they will make it nice-looking and all, but even so, I don't think I would be too happy if this were right in my neighborhood. And lastly, Elmore Rd., just a few blocks away, is being widened, in large part I would imagine due to this very project. At least there is some planning ahead going on, BUT...

First of all, this Elmore Rd. widening is only going to encourage residents from further north to travel down Greenbrook Pkwy., a RESIDENTIAL street (which IS in my neighborhood!), in order to get to Elmore and this new mall. Secondly, this Elmore Rd. construction project is one of the most unsafe things I've ever seen! (Are you listening, Mayor Musselwhite!?). I had to dodge one of the cranes that was installing culverts on one occasion, and on another I saw the flagmen wave vehicles going in opposite directions right into the same lane! Luckily the drivers had more common sense than the people running that crazy show! Sorry, I digressed a bit there at the end, but just goes to show some of the challenges being faced due to this upcoming mall, which (someone correct me if I'm wrong), isn't even going to be a true, old-school, enclosed mall!

So put me down as not really being in favor of this, at least not at this time. It could be worse: I feel for those poor Horn Lake residents that will have to deal with the traffic (and other) nightmares associated with that future Walmart!