Graceland area set for redevelopment

MEMPHIS, April 15 (UPI) -- CKx Inc., owners of Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn., said the company was committed to a neighborhood-wide redevelopment plan.

CKx Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Sillerman met with members of the Memphis city council and the city's chamber of commerce, after which he said city residents "should get out of their chairs and go to Graceland five or six times now," so they could in future years compare the old neighborhood to the refurbished one, the Memphis Commercial Appeal reported Thursday.

With the first set of plans scraped, details of the project were not discussed at the meeting, council chairman Harold Collins said. But preliminary discussions included plans to work on Elvis Presley Boulevard and the creation of a tourist-development zone for the Whitehaven neighborhoods surrounding the late rock star's home, he said.

"This is a project that's going to be a massive undertaking," Collins said.