Photo: Raymond Boyd (Getty Images)
The pyramids of Egypt are extraordinary monuments to the culture, scientific achievements, and grandeur of one of the ancient world’s most powerful empires. The Great American Pyramid, on the other hand, is mostly a monument to the strange path of excess capital in the postwar United States.
Abandoned, Jake Williams explores the history of Memphis, Tennessee’s Great American Pyramid (a.k.a., the Memphis Pyramid, the Pyramid Arena, The Pyramid, the Tomb Of Doom, and the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid). The bizarre structure dates back to the mid-1950s when a man decided that the American Memphis needed a bit of Egyptian Memphis flavor. In the ’80s, that man’s son managed to actually get the project underway. He envisioned The Pyramid as a sports arena and wanted it painted gold. Over time, it was also pitched as a music venue and museum, and it ended up attracting a whole lot of public funding.