Adventure river is back, y’all! Well, not the actual waterpark, but there’s definitely fun and water involved. And the destination…Mud Island River Park.
If you haven’t heard by now, there’s been a revival in downtown Memphis — the highly anticipated amusement experience for families to immerse themselves in.
Photo courtesy of BVO
Mud Island River Park
Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time (BVO), officially opened to the public on May 1. Located inside the former site of the Mud Island river museum, I had a chance to preview what felt like a never-ending space of “look over there!”
My first reaction of seeing my childhood indoor-outdoor playground be restored for modern entertainment in the most thoughtful way was astonishing. It was like walking into a time machine of “wait, I remember that!,” and “whoa, you kept that?,” — literally a tour of intriguing architecture, innovation, and artifacts that were carefully culminated for the City’s history and future.
BVO is an open-world game inside a real-world environment where visitors can navigate a maze of rooms, corridors, and portals that merge physical sets, interactive worlds, projection-mapping, and game-engine technology to create a living story they can explore, play, and shape.
Photo courtesy of BVO
Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time
And nothing short of fun and amazement from the time you enter, until you want to go again. But what's an adventure without risk-taking?
Originally set to open March 7, BVO sustained significant water damage in February — stemming from work to improve the building’s fire suppression system — causing a delay in the opening.
When working inside a legacy public structure, modernization efforts don’t always go as planned,” says Jee Vahn Knight, who joined the BVO team as CEO last fall. “This was one of those moments.”
The company has raised $700,000 toward its $1 million capital goal — some stemming from $179,000 raised through a Wefunder crowd-investing campaign in 2024, $100,000 in sponsorship funding from Memphis Tourism, and $60,000 in grants from the Downtown Memphis Commission.
Photo courtesy of BVO
Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time
The opening on Mud Island follows a series of critical infrastructure improvements made in coordination with the City of Memphis and Memphis River Parks. The City has addressed long-standing mechanical issues at the site, including adding a new roof on the building and repairing the escalator that leads from the building’s first floor entrance to BVO’s second-floor entrance. Memphis River Parks has also worked to address other maintenance and security issues since the project’s inception in January 2024.
Projects like ours move forward when the public sector shows up as a real partner,” says Vahn Knight. “The City’s willingness to tackle long-standing infrastructure issues at Mud Island sends a clear signal of confidence in what we are building.”
Before joining BVO, Vahn Knight worked with the industry-defining immersive company Meow Wolf, helping the organization transition from an artisan collective into a scalable business and supporting its national expansion. Her background also includes museum conservation work with the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum and large-scale digital projects with Paramount Pictures and NBCUniversal.
“From the beginning, BVO stood out as the kind of creative activation Memphis needs,” says Mayor Paul Young. “Bringing Jee Vahn Knight on as CEO adds a leader with the experience and vision to help BVO grow into one of the most innovative immersive attractions in the country. With her background at institutions like Meow Wolf and the Smithsonian, she brings the leadership needed to help BVO succeed as a catalytic attraction for downtown Memphis.”
Photo courtesy of BVO
Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time
BVO’s River of Time, the company’s first permanent installation, follows on the success of their earlier project, Quadrant 360, which sold out a two-month run of 4,000 tickets in just two days in 2020, and drew visitors across eight states.
“When Quadrant 360 sold out in two days, people kept coming up to me asking, ‘When’s the next one?’,” says Christopher Reyes, BVO’s co-founder and chief creative officer. “The River of Time is the answer — taking the Baron’s cinematic world out of my head and building it into a real world people can walk into.”
Between the success of Quadrant 360 and the development of the River of Time, Reyes explored several potential locations around the city, including the Mid-South Coliseum. In a 2023 meeting with Mayor Young — then head of the Downtown Memphis Commission — Young asked Reyes whether he had considered Mud Island.
Reyes initially dismissed the idea, but a visit to the former river museum with co-founder Marvin Stockwell quickly changed his mind.
“As soon as I walked in, I thought, ‘This is the spot,’” Reyes said. “The world we were already building had a river in it — and suddenly there’s a riverboat sitting right there. Once we saw the space, this part of the story just snapped into focus.”
Photo courtesy of BVO
BVO Team (l-r): Reuben Brunson, Kathryn Hicks, Marvin Stockwell, Christopher Reyes, and Jee Vahn Knight
Reyes and his co-founders — Marvin Stockwell, Reuben Brunson, and Kathryn Hicks — spent a little over a year preparing the site, rallying community support, and raising early capital through a crowd-investing campaign.
“Growing a new industry is my favorite part of this,” Vahn Knight said. “Creative industries grow careers, families and local businesses. Beyond operating the experience, BVO is driving a new pillar deep into Memphis’ creative ecosystem — bringing new talent to the city and reminding this generation that Memphis has always been the cradle of global creative impact.”
Photo courtesy of BVO
Baron Von Opperbean and the River of Time
BVO is a gamer's haven and a family's amusement fest, one room after another. The multiverse aesthetics produces a thrilling experience of imagination and play at every inch of space.
The Memphis-based BVO opening experience includes the first 8,000 square feet, marking a key milestone in the company’s plans. Further goals include:
- Opening another 10,000 square feet by end of 2026
- Completing development of 33,000-sq-ft space (including two large boat replicas) by end of 2027
To learn more about the journey of BVO and what’s to come, or to grab tickets, visit bvoexp.com/plan-your-visit.