Street Talk

Bioworks selling Baptist Memorial bricks from hospital debris

Memphis Business Journal
August 25, 2006
By Scott Shepard

Most of the rubble from the old Baptist-Medical Center is now entombed in a Frayser landfill, but the Memphis Bioworks Foundation has rescued a few mementos from the November implosion.

Bioworks is selling 1,000 bricks salvaged from the wreckage, complete with fragments of mortar and coated in dust. A single brick costs $25 if you pick it up at 20 S. Dudley, or $40 if you want it in the mail.

The foundation never intended to sell bricks until a number of people asked about getting one, says spokesman Jeni Thompson.

Some people want a piece of the place where Elvis was treated, while others have a personal connection: They were born there or someone dear died there. Most buyers, though, have been Baptist employees with fond memories of the place. One retired Baptist employee bought four bricks to share with friends.

Most of the money raised covers the time and expense of selling the bricks, and what's left goes into the Bioworks general operating fund.

"I wanted a new computer, but they said no," Thompson says.

For more information, drop her an e-mail at jthompson@memphisbioworks.org.