The Mississippi River Museum was a museum located on Mud Island , in Memphis , Tennessee .
13-530: The museum opened in 1982 with the goal of "preserv[ing] and promot[ing] the natural and cultural history of the Lower Mississippi River Valley". In 1990, businessman Sidney Shlenker (known locally for managing construction of the Memphis Pyramid ) planned to shut down the museum to make space for new bars and restaurants on the island. The announcement of these plans was met with backlash by
26-707: A professional hockey team based in Denver , Colorado that played for two seasons in the late 1980s. They were a member of the International Hockey League , and an affiliate of the New York Rangers . The team was originally known as the Indianapolis Checkers , but after the 1986–1987 season the team moved to Denver. The team was originally known as the Colorado Rangers for the 1987–1988 season. After
39-694: The National Basketball Association . Shlenker was born in Monroe, Louisiana . His family moved to Houston two years later. He graduated from St. John's School in Houston, and attended Tulane University , but dropped out without graduating. Shlenker met Roy Hofheinz , the owner of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball and the Astrodome . Shlenker began promoting non-sporting events held at
52-642: The West Tennessee Historical Society , which cooperated with the Mud Island Foundation and then-Mayor of Memphis Richard Hackett to intervene and save the museum from closure. In July 2018, the museum was temporarily closed for renovations, citing low attendance rates and a need to update outdated exhibits. The museum reopened in May 2019. In August 2019, vandals broke into the museum, breaking display cases but not stealing or damaging any of
65-637: The "Denver Desperados", attracted deposits for 400 season tickets within four months, short of the required 5,000; the franchise was revoked in November 1987. In September 1988, Shlenker purchased the Colorado / Denver Rangers of the International Hockey League . He declared the team bankrupt in June 1989. Shlenker sold the Nuggets in November 1989 for $ 65 million. Shlenker then moved to Memphis, Tennessee , where he managed
78-703: The 1988–1989 season the team moved to Phoenix, Arizona and became known as the Phoenix Roadrunners . List of Denver Rangers alumni who played more than 100 games in Denver and 100 or more games in the National Hockey League . This American ice hockey team-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a sports team in Colorado is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Denver -related article
91-669: The Astrodome. In 1966, Shlenker and Allen Becker founded Pace Management Company, which focused on event promotion. In 1975, the Astros hired Shlenker as their president. He fired Spec Richardson , the team's general manager , and hired Tal Smith . Shlenker became a part-owner of the Houston Rockets of the National Basketball Association (NBA) in 1982. In May 1985, he bought the NBA's Denver Nuggets for $ 20 million. He reached an agreement with
104-695: The city of Denver to renovate the McNichols Arena . Shlenker also owned the Denver Dynamite of the Arena Football League (AFL). He refused to operate by the financial rules of the AFL, and suspended the team's operations after one season. In June 1987, the Major Indoor Soccer League granted a conditional franchise to Shlenker, to begin play in the 1988–89 season. The team, tentatively named
117-534: The construction of the Memphis Pyramid . In 1991, he was removed from the project after failing to obtain financing and his company filed for bankruptcy . The year before, Shlenker's plans to remove the Mississippi River Museum on Mud Island to make space for bars and restaurants fell through thanks to intervention of the West Tennessee Historical Society , the Mud Island Foundation, and then-Mayor of Memphis, Richard Hackett . Shlenker testified in
130-583: The historical artifacts on display. Low attendance resulted in the museum's closure not long afterwards with the contents being transferred to the Museum of Science and History - Memphis . In 2024, plans were announced to redevelop the museum into an interactive experience titled "Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time". The museum was divided into 18 galleries, which displayed more than 5,000 Mississippi River-relevant historical artifacts altogether. Located just outside of
143-527: The museum is a scale model of the river. Several items relevant to the Mississippi River's role in the Civil War were on display, most notably a life-size replica of a Union City-class ironclad gunboat . The museum was populated by wax sculptures of historical figures linked to the Mississippi River, such as Mark Twain and Mike Fink . A documentary on the several perils of traveling and living on
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#1733085928126156-470: The river (such as boiler explosions and yellow fever ) was played at the "Theatre of Horrors". One of the museum's galleries was dedicated to the history of music on the river. Sidney Shlenker Sidney L. Shlenker (August 14, 1936 – April 23, 2003) was an American businessman. He was the team president of the Houston Astros of Major League Baseball and the owner of the Denver Nuggets of
169-609: The trial of Heidi Fleiss , the "Hollywood Madam", in 1995. As a former customer, he received immunity for his testimony. Shlenker suffered a spinal cord injury in a 1998 motor vehicle accident on U.S. Route 395 in Big Pine, California . The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. Shlenker had three children. He and his first wife, Marti, divorced in 1990. He later married his second wife, Denise. Shlenker died of heart failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on April 23, 2003. Denver Rangers The Denver Rangers were
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