Entry No. 24 — the Memphis file — filed under: giant-sculpture

Tom Lee Park — river-creature playground & Tom Lee memorial

Giant sculptural playground pieces by Danish design studio Monstrum — a sturgeon, a caterpillar, a salamander, and a family of river otters — line the riverfront as part of the park's 2023 redesign by Studio Gang and SCAPE, near a bronze memorial to Tom Lee, a riverworker who couldn't swim but pulled 32 people from the sinking steamboat M.E. Norman in 1925. His original granite obelisk was destroyed by the 2003 'Hurricane Elvis' storm; David Alan Clark's bronze rescue sculpture replaced it in 2006.

The move: Walk the mile-long riverfront at golden hour, climb around the oversized creature sculptures like you're kids again, then read the Tom Lee memorial plaque before watching the sun drop behind the Mississippi.

• 📍 Downtown Riverfront
• 💸 Free
• ⚡ Up for anything
• 🌗 Outdoors

Where: Riverside Dr at Beale St, Memphis, TN 38103

Hours: Added 2026-07-20 — confirm current hours before you go.

Plan a visit & invite your people →

Further reading: Wikipedia · Official site

last checked: 2026-07-20