'Dr. Who meets Indiana Jones' on Mud Island? Immersive experience would deliver that and more
The old-time paddlewheel and riverboat decks of the defunct Mississippi River Museum at Mud Island will be transformed into a state-of-the-art Dr. Who-meets-Indiana Jones-meets-Willy Wonka "wonderland" under a plan developed by a team of Memphis artists and visionaries.
With the endorsement of the Memphis River Parks Partnership, which manages the Mud Island River Park for the city, artist and tech wizard Christopher Reyes and his collaborators are raising funds to install a family-friendly "immersive experience" — "a place where you can run, jump, climb, crawl, and teleport to alternate universes," according to Reyes — within the now mostly empty 33,000-square-foot museum space.
"We're wanting to create a world-class experience," said Marvin Stockwell, communications officer for the project, an "exploratorium" with an extravagant name: "Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time." (The "river of time" concept justifies the use of the museum's built-in riverboat elements, and will provide a basis for the exhibit's interactive "alternate universes" story structure.)
Stockwell cited successful similar interactive and "immersive" attractions in other cities, such as the San Francisco Exploratorium and "Omega Mart" in Las Vegas, developed by MeowWolf, a Santa Fe, New Mexico company that creates large-scale interactive installations.
A local precedent is Reyes' first "Baron Von Opperbean" project, which attracted some 4,000 patrons to the Off The Wall Arts exhibit space on Walnut Street in the spring of 2020. “Tickets sold out in a matter of hours, with no advertising,” Reyes said.
"We love the idea of the museum having an updated re-use," said Carol Coletta, CEO of the River Parks Partnership, which has signed a five-year lease with the "Opperbean" team. "If it succeeds, it's good for them, good for us, good for Memphis, and good for Memphis artists."
In a video promoting the project on the "Opperbean" website (bvoexp.com), Reyes describes the installation as "an immersive playground and interactive experience" incorporating "music, film, art, storytelling... Dr. Who meets Indiana Jones in a Willy Wonka world of magic, science and the multiverse."
The "interactive adventure" will be "a memorable family experience," said Reyes, who has two children, ages 6 and 9.
Bringing Mud Island 'back to life'
The "Opperbean" plan arrives at a time of renewed interest in the riverfront in general and the deteriorated Mud Island park in particular.
Occupying a narrow river-clutched peninsula that runs parallel to Downtown, Mud Island debuted with much ballyhoo in 1982. It remains open, with free admission, accessible by a pedestrian bridge from Downtown or by an entrance on the north end of the park.
However, today the park is almost a destination afterthought, except for the tourists who pose for pictures with the large colorful "MEMPHIS" sign on its south tip. Its once popular monorail passenger transport is no longer operational, and its formerly busy music amphitheater hasn't hosted a concert since 2018. Most of the contents of the museum have been transferred to the Museum of Science and History/ Pink Palace.
Coletta hopes to develop a "cohesive" plan for Mud Island, but in the meantime, the park is being slowly rehabilitated. The famous "Riverwalk" scale model of the Mississippi River that snakes through its interior has running water again; and the city this year earmarked $4 million in "Accelerate Memphis" plan to begin restoration of the amphitheater and repair escalators, elevators, lights and so on. "Baron Von Opperbean" would be a significant addition to these enhancements. Said Reyes: "Mud Island is an incredible civic asset that we're going to bring back to life."
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Fundraising campaign launched for project
A veteran artist, filmmaker and tech innovator, Reyes, 54, essentially "muscled" his first "Baron Von Opperbean" installation into existence on his own, like a massive art project. But the Mud Island "River of Time" adventure will fill eight rooms and be 15 times larger than its predecessor, meaning it will require the collaboration of numerous artists, engineers, strategists and other professionals. Among the key personnel are Kathryn Hicks, the project's specialist in "extended reality" (digital technology, virtual reality, and so on), and Reuben Brunson, heading the project's business side.
The project's cost also has grown exponentially (even though Reyes plans to use recycled and re-adapted materials as much as possible during construction). Reyes' first "exploratorium" cost about $25,000 to realize; the "River of Time" budget is about $10 million. Via Wefunder (wefunder.com/bvo), a crowd-funding platform for startup companies, the team hopes to raise $5 million to open a first phase of the attraction before the end of this year. The fundraising campaign launched Monday, June 10. Under Wefunder, contributors are not just donors but investors who could make money on the project if it is successful.
The goal is large, but "BVO" (Baron Von Opperbean) advocates — who previously had pushed for the project to be incorporated into a renovated Mid-South Coliseum — say the payoff will be bigger. A detailed economic impact report prepared by BVO claims the project will create 566 jobs and have an annual economic impact of $35 million, once it's up and running.
Said Stockwell: "I have every confidence this is going to happen."
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis' Mud Island could get immersive experience. What's planned?
