by Michael Sheffield - Memphis Business Journal -

Memphis City Mayor AC Wharton and Robert Lipscomb, director of the Memphis Housing Authority presented a plan to the Memphis City Council today for a $134.2 million redevelopment of the 175-acre Mid-South Fairgrounds. The project, Lipscomb said, will be funded by Tourism Development Zone funds.

Tourism Development Zones were created by the state of Tennessee in 1998, and allow the city to receive a percentage of funding from sales tax revenue generated by public use facilities from the state. The idea behind tourism development zones is that without the facilities out-of-town guests are coming to visit the revenue wouldn’t be generated.

The plan includes improvements to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, a new retail center, new 5,000-seat indoor, multi-use arena to replace the Mid-South Coliseum, basketball courts, and a youth sports facility.

The plans break down the project into phases, which have already begun, Lipscomb said, in the form of Tiger Lane, the $15.8 million tailgating area and entry-way to the Liberty Bowl, which was completed last summer, and the $25 million Kroc Center, a community center concept created by McDonald’s Corp. founders Ray and Joan Kroc. The Kroc Center is being funded through a portion of $1.5 billion the Krocs bequeathed to the Salvation Army.

The remaining phases will include $54.2 million worth of improvements to the Liberty Bowl, which will include a new jumbotron, and further development of Tiger Lane. A $5.4 million expansion of the Children’s Museum and another $74.6 million in improvements to the surrounding areas, including construction of the sports complex were also outlined in the plan.

“This project has rich potential to stimulate our economy, revitalize a key location in the heart of Memphis and complement and connect with other major city projects,” Lipscomb said.
Lipscomb said if the concept for the project is approved by the City Council in the next two months, the next step would be to get the tourism development zone approved by the state. RFPs for the retail component will be issued sometime in the spring, assuming the zone is approved.

During the presentation, Memphis City Councilman Jim Strickland expressed concerns about the city developing the land instead of the private sector. Wharton said the city doesn’t want to get into developing land, but in the fairgrounds is a reasonable exception.

“We’ve already got the land and accept the principal of not competing with the private sector,” Wharton said. “But we’ve also accepted the mandate of not using public money for this project. We can’t say this loud enough. We are undertaking these transformational projects without them costing city government any money from the general fund.”