[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 4 (Tuesday, January 9, 2024)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E9]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        REMEMBERING TONY BOLOGNA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, January 9, 2024

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to note the passing of Antonio 
``Tony'' Bologna, a distinguished and internationally known architect 
who transformed the City of Memphis with the sheer magnitude of his 
efforts. Mr. Bologna arrived in Memphis in 1964 after receiving 
undergraduate and graduate degrees from Tulane in his native hometown, 
New Orleans. An early job was the design of the city's Memphis Light, 
Gas and Water Department headquarters on South Main. Soon realizing 
that his real calling was the renovation of historic, often abandoned 
buildings, through his Bologna and Associates company, he worked on the 
Cotton Exchange Building, the Shrine Building, 88 Union Center, the 
United American Bank building, historic Beale Street including Handy 
Park, the Paperworks Apartments, St. Peter Catholic Church, Brinkley 
Plaza, the elephant house at the Memphis Zoo, Elvis Presley Plaza, 
Memphis Businessmen's Club Building, Fogelman Downtown Y.M.C.A., Old 
Daisy Theater, Gaston Community Center, Christopher Columbus Park, New 
Daisy Theater, One South Main Street, 378-384 South Main Street, and 
Perkins Garden Apartments, among others. As chairman of the Memphis 
Development Foundation, he worked to ensure that the Orpheum Theater 
was not torn down and that it was placed on the National Registry of 
Historic Places. In 1986, he was the Technical Advisol to the Mayor & 
the Committee for the Lighting of the iconic Hernando Desoto Bridge, 
and was instrumental in getting the bridge lit.
  In 1988, he completed an eight-year term on the International 
Relations Committee of the American Institute of Architects in 
Washington, D.C. During this term, he represented the Institute as 
liaison to the Federation of Pan American Architects (FPAA). In 
addition, he served as the Deputy Council Member of the Union 
Internationale des Architectes (UIA), whose headquarters are in Paris, 
France. He served two years as Managing Director of the ``Programme for 
Continuing Education'' of UIA. In these roles, he participated in 
international congresses and assemblies, including meetings in Egypt, 
England, Ireland, Brazil, the Netherlands, Russia, Estonia and Poland. 
He also represented UIA at a UNESCO Symposium in Paris on architectural 
education.
  After his retirement from his architectural practice in 1988, he 
joined the Henry Turley Company and worked on the planning, development 
and construction of two mixed-use planned communities--Harbor Town and 
the South Bluffs, both overlooking the Mississippi River, and both 
essential anchors for the establishment of a strong Downtown.
  In 1991, he completed a six-year term as Chairman of the Memphis and 
Shelby County Building Code Advisory Board and remained a current 
member of the Board until the past few years. During this period, he 
successfully managed the debate and adoption of the city and county's 
first seismic building code. From 2004 through 2006 he served again as 
Chairman of the Building Code Advisory Board.
  In 2001, he received a ``Downtown Pioneer'' Award from the Memphis 
Downtowner Magazine for his involvement in downtown's transformation. 
In 2004, he received the Memphis Center City Commission's Vision Award. 
In 2022, he received a duck footprint on the Duck Walk Hall of Fame 
outside the Peabody Hotel. In 2023, a bridge in Harbor Town was 
dedicated to him by the community.
  Tony's reach in Memphis was deep and impactful and he was as admired 
an individual as there has been in Memphis. He was a straight shooter 
and had a big heart and stellar mind. Accordingly, he was highly 
respected. He could have stayed in the Big Easy. Memphis is lucky he 
came up the river because Memphis is not easy.
  I wish to express my sincere condolences and appreciation to Mr. 
Bologna's wife of 64 years, Deanna Theresa Jambrone Bologna; their 
children Greg Bologna, Anthony Bologna, and Donna Bologna McCraw; their 
seven grandchildren; and his many friends, colleagues and partners 
through the years. Mr. Bologna lived a rich and consequential life and 
the City of Memphis itself reflects his legacy.

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