Levitt Shell wants to adapt shipping containers for buildings

Tom Bailey | Memphis Commercial Appeal

Show Caption Hide Caption Levitt Shell announces the 2017 summer concert series line up The Levitt Shell's 30-concert summer series kicks off June 1.

The Levitt Shell organization wants to use shipping containers to house a beverage kiosk, event volunteers and security at its amphitheater in Overton Park.

The nonprofit joins a growing number of businesses and venues in and around Midtown that either use or plan to adapt the metal vessels as buildings.

The Shell this week filed an application with the Board of Adjustment to receive a zoning variance from the requirements of the Unified Development Code.

The Shell would use the shipping containers for retail space to sell Levitt Shell merchandise as well as beer and wine during events there, especially its series of 50 free concerts.

The containers would be placed to the right of the stage (as the audience sees it) in front of the spot where food trucks now park.

"The site in question is currently a food concessions area...,'' states Levitt Shell executive Anne E. Pitts in her letter to the Board of Adjustment. "The site contains temporary tenting structures for the purpose of housing Levitt Shell merchandise, concessions, volunteers and security stations.

"The Levitt Shell would like to replace these temporary tents with shipping containers designed for selling Levitt Shell merchandise and providing a stationary location for volunteers and security to be well-seen by the audience, and a separate shipping container for the sale of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and pre-packaged foods,'' Pitts writes.

The Board of Adjustment is to review the application at its July 26 meeting, which will be 2 p.m. at City Hall.

Railgarten near the northeast corner of Central and Cooper received retroactive approval to incorporate shipping containers into its outdoor entertainment space.

The Liquor Store, a planned restaurant on Broad Avenue, has been approved to use two shipping containers behind its building for kitchen prep and storage.

And PGK Properties was to go before the Board of Adjustment on Wednesday seeking approval to place up to five shipping containers in front of its surface parking lot in the 600 block of Monroe in the Edge District. Those containers would be used for small commercial spaces.