Just What Does Chris Ewing Control at Inspiration Landing?

 

Located near the entrance to Inspiration Landing is a small corner of land referred to as The Slag...or The Slag Yard...or The Slag Pile...or The Slag at Furnace Hill. In hind sight, it seems to have had more names than paying customers.

When the City of Sheffield deeded IL to John Elkington, The Slag was a part of the property. In a September 3, 2021, news article, Scott Michael referred to the Slag property as his. Michael is also known as Rooster Feathers of Oxford, Mississippi, and a close friend of John Elkington. We've found no property records that mention Michael.

In this same article, Michael referred to Chris Ewing as someone who arrived to the dance late, but wanted to squeeze Rooster out. Ewing is one-half of Ewing-Kessler and also a friend of Elkington. He's often referred to as a developer, but his business description indicates air conditioning services to large businesses. On September 17, Ewing is referred to as the developer of IL. At this point, Ewing and Michael were involved in court proceedings to establish just who ran The Slag.

By October 28, Sheffield mayor Steve Stanley made a comment that he hoped the situation was resolved soon. The city had four million invested and would begin in January 2022 to make 20K loan payments on the project each month.

Ten months later in August 2022, Ewing-Kessler announced that The Slag would not reopen. There was to be an entirely new configuration for the whole area. 

On a related note, IL is divided into six land parcels, and the contact person of record for each is Chris Ewing. There has been no mention of old pal Rooster in almost a year. John Elkington made his last appearance in local news in January of this year. 

And they're lining up to run against Steve Stanley three years from now...

The Slag: Limited Payroll & No Notice

 

It's been reported by a highly placed source that perhaps as many as half of the employees at the Slag venue have not been paid. At least one band says the promoters owe them money, as do some vendors.  

Very sad, but even sadder is that all of the employees we spoke to found out via Facebook that they no longer have jobs. That's right; there were no phone calls or e-mails. 

Now, we'll venture from hard facts to some speculation. Both Scott Michael and Chris Ewing are friends of John Elkington. Couldn't the Memphis mogul have headed off the Ewing lawsuit against Michael? Surely it's not good publicity.

Back to hard, cold reality, those who have ventured onto Inspiration Landing property this past week tell us that, aside from the music venue, there has been absolutely no sign of future construction.

Elkington once blamed an economic downturn for the failure of the Forge in Birmingham and Saddlebrook in Germantown. Will it be amazingly easy to blame the failure of IL on the double tap of COVID and a lawsuit?

Obviously any new business will garner complaints, but one we received about the Slag was especially touching. A young man wanted to take his wife to see Lucero/Pine Hill Haints. This man had been laid off due to various factors, and the sixty dollars was hard to come by, especially if he wanted to take his wife out to eat after the concert.

Upon arrival, they discovered that they had to rent lawn chairs for the concert. He also felt the need to tip the golf cart driver that took the couple to the venue from some impromptu parking. He didn't report the exact amount spent, but did relate that their dinner at Vertillo's turned into a bite at McDonald's. He went on that both he and his wife were very disappointed with Lucero, but he really couldn't blame the venue for that. 

Obviously, you have to pay to play, but we're a firm believer in all costs being upfront. Is anyone else reminded of The Producers?

Lawsuits Brought The Slag Down?

 

Is The Slag gone for good? If anyone brings it back, we sincerely hope it's with a new name that doesn't demean women. The current question is why the music venue closed after only two weeks. 

There are certainly enough rumors floating around. First, the venue mentioned two cancelled shows. Then a later post said it was closing for good. A member of the Outlaw Apostles claimed that their band had been given the shaft, ostensibly for out performing other local or regional bands. (We would like to know more about this if any band member would be willing to get in touch with our blog.)

Financial troubles were mentioned, as well as lawsuits. The most prevalent rumor concerning lawsuits seemed to indicate legal action from Rivermont citizens; however, it now appears to be much closer to the venue's home.

First, who owns the land The Slag sits on? Is it still John Elkington or did he deed it to his friend "Rooster Feathers?" Neither one seems to be management; that job is claimed by Chris Ewing of Memphis (pictured below). 

We'll inject our own two cents at this juncture. There seemed to be managers all over Tennessee and Mississippi, but none in the Shoals. Even job interviews were conducted over the phone. We've never seen that work out that well for any business, especially one that would logically require a hands on approach.

Now Ewing is suing Rooster (Scott Michael) and demanding closure of the venue. That was after first claiming the abrupt closing was due to COVID. How many changes of stories does this make for The Slag? 

1. The venue will be ready in July. Only it wasn't.

2. The Marshall Tucker show was sold out within days of its announcement. Only it wasn't.

3. The Outlaw Apostles will open for Marshall Tucker. Only they didn't.

4. The Slag is still the area's premier venue. Only it's isn't by a long shot. Compare event photos of the The Slag to those taken at Singin' River Brewery.

If anyone thinks this lawsuit is simple or will be taken care of speedily, you're prime candidates to invest in Shoalanda's Hoverboards. 

A Political Pundit on The Slag/Inspiration Landing

 

The Slag at Furnace Hill is closing.  As Gomer Pyle would say, Surprise, Surprise, Surprise.

Who will ultimately own the streets that go nowhere? Who paid for those streets? The public deserves and should demand to see the contract on this embarrassing debacle. When do we get our bellies full of these scams and politicians that can't do the jobs they were elected to do?

Just recently the Colbert County Commission voted in a 4-2 vote to give a group in Montgomery $600,000.00 out of a federal stimulus grant of around 10 million dollars, so they can tell the county commission how to spend the remaining money. Most citizens would ask, "WHO IN MONTGOMERY KNOWS MORE ABOUT OUR NEEDS THAN THE ONES WE ELECTED? NEWS FLASH - 4 of your elected County Commissioners say they do!!! Let that sink in - SIX HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's a lot of zeros - and a lot of money that could have been used for roads, trash collection, internet in the county areas and many other services to US, the TAXPAYERS and not to yahoos in Montgomery!!!!! 

We can't stop at the county commission and Elkington, we have enough stupidity and inept elected officials to go around.

Sheffield mayor and city council aren't the only ones that have egg in their face with this Elkington shister. Tuscumbia mayor Bubba Underwood gave the previous Sheffield mayor Ian Sanford $6000.00 out of the mounds of money Tuscumbia has for a "study" to see how fast people could get from Hwy 72 through Tuscumbia to Sheffield. Now, that doesn't take a real smart fella to figure out that ain't real smart. But then again, after reading a lawsuit filed against Bubba Underwood, CPA and mayor of Tuscumbia, he obviously doesn't pay much attention to little details like finances, budgets and such. Wonder how many other lawsuits are in the works on Mr. Underwood for his shoddy accounting and services?

Muscle Shoals keeps buying portable pumps to move flood waters from one neighborhood to another while "The" mall is still standing under water and flooding after FIFTY YEARS and counting. Any old timer can tell you stories of riding a canoe and fishing boat through the floodwater from McBride Elementary to the Shoals Hospital location back in the 60's and 70's. Sink holes abound across the city while the new mayor thinks filling them with a little trash picked up along the roads and putting a fresh coat of asphalt over it will solve the problem. And, of course, the infamous golf course, aka country club redneck style. That's another sink hole that sucks away the dollars. Not much changes except the cost of corruption and the level of unqualified people that are elected and appointed to make these genius decisions.

Tuscumbia with all the potholes throughout the city is second to only Sheffield in the poor streets and infrastructure throughout the city, Both towns have a nice street going through the downtown, but you will have to schedule a front in alignment if you get off the main drag for the abuse your poor car gets from all the potholes. Neither city has any money to squander. Maybe Florence will pick up more real estate on the south side of the bridge when the mayors bankrupt all these little towns.

If it were not for Sheffield Utilities deep pocket and a tax and spend utilities manager that loves to travel, the money rate payers spend on services will continue to be thrown at get rich quick schemes. Muscle Shoals just raises fees and taxes on the snobs that live there, Tuscumbia cuts services and the police and fire departments, and Sheffield, well, it's Sheffield. 

History lesson - Ford plant and Slyman, Railcar Plant, Dream Vision, Inspiration Landing and a few more won't be alone cause there's one thing for sure, the only thing we learn from history is that we don't learn from history.

Colbert County: coming soon - Lauderlin. A cross breed of Lauderdale and Franklin Counties when they take over Colbert. Sounds a little like "La Land" - Kinda has a ring to it doesn't it?

More to come, cause some people just haven't figured it out ,"when you're in a ditch, quit digging".

The Slag at Furnace Hill Gets Mixed Reviews

 

No, the new music venue wasn't finished quite on time, but whoever is now in charge decided to open Friday and Saturday's shows to the general public free. Good marketing move? We're going with yes.

There were good and bad reviews. We'll start with the good:

1. Most concert-goers loved the lighting, comparing it to a fairyland or carnival.

2. Also getting great reviews was the music. The Pine Hill Haints were a hit, but we've read nothing about Lucero - didn't that group appear on Friday?

3. Many citizens of Sheffield were amazed and thoroughly pleased that the endeavor has gotten this far. We're eager to see what comes next!

Now the bad:

1. Those who live in the Village have discovered they will now have to drive through Tuscumbia to get to downtown Sheffield on concert nights. They're not pleased. Will Sheffield restaurants lose business?

2. There was only one food truck serving the crowd - pictured below:

3. The bar was very small (maybe this is a good thing?):

4. Some didn't like the restrooms. From the photo, this portable facility looks like many leased for new construction in existing facilities, and we've always found them nice, but haven't seen this particular one:

5. Sheffield police didn't do a good job directing traffic. Shouldn't this get better with practice?

6. It rained. Alas, this is a fact of nature. It will continue to happen in open air venues.

Now a personal observation: Ditty TV is supposedly set to have a presence in the Inspiration Landing complex. How did that group describe the venue? It's in a town just outside Muscle Shoals. No mention of Sheffield...period. John Elkington needs to speak with his "friends" at Ditty.

A Shoals Dignitary Tours "The Slag at Furnace Hill"

 

We gave up most hope of a thriving Inspiration Landing a long time ago. Yet we had hoped the music venue, located fairly close to the main entrance, would be a success and an asset to the community. In 27/28 days, the first and second concerts are scheduled for "The Slag." 

This week a Shoals dignitary toured the still under construction venue. The former official came away bemused by the lack of work at the site. Here's a humorous take on the endeavor:

Here are some quotes from the dignitary's review:

Beautiful roads and curbs that end in dead ends and some drop off in woods.

Funny. Seriously, every road dead ends. You should take a tour for yourself.

I promise you, there is no room for any one to set up stage and the like for a concert. There is one parking lot that is isolated that may have 75 spaces.

Just the last quote gives room for quite a pause. VIP tickets for 300 (not counting general admission) and only 75 parking places? 

And the Marshall Tucker concert? We know several, all over 40 (they may even be over 50 if they consulted their watches) who have said they would love to go, but won't tolerate what they perceive as the conditions of the venue. Pass the meloxicam.

If you've had your own tour, please send us a review...