(02-25-2022 05:25 PM)msu35 Wrote:  This article is likely old news to many, but it does provide more insight. Perhaps a new stadium is not completely off the table depending on cost, but it seems unlikely given the surrounding factors.

Quote:The city of Memphis has commissioned a proposal from a major architectural firm as part of its plans to create a revamped Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in the coming years, a city official confirmed Monday.

Nick Walker, the director of the city’s division of parks and neighborhoods, told the Commercial Appeal that architects and certain stadium stakeholders did a walkthrough of the facility ahead of the Memphis-UTSA football game less than two weeks ago.

Quote:Deputy athletics director Jeff Crane said the athletic department is hoping it can release specific concepts and renderings by the end of the calendar year. Crane confirmed that the Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium project and plans for a student-athlete success center on the university's Park Avenue campus are currently the top two fundraising priorities within the department.

Quote:The cost of the project, Walker added, will need to be shared by Memphis donors, the city, the state of Tennessee and federal money. Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland said in an interview on 92.9 FM ESPN on Monday that “a lion’s share” of the cost will need to come from the the university and its donors. He also did not rule out the architectural firm determining that a new stadium would be the best path forward.

Quote:Walker also emphasized this isn’t about injecting money into the Liberty Bowl that would be used for an on-campus stadium, noting that a conservative estimate for an on-campus stadium at Memphis is “$300 million and 160 acres the university doesn’t have,” in addition to day-to-day operational costs the city currently provides for the Liberty Bowl.

Sure the university doesn't have that money & it never will with the status quote. But it would have had a good start at the money with a defined objective fund raising initiative started 5-10 yrs ago, identifying & selling a small group of heavy financial backers, reserving prime OC space in the long term plan, & heavy lobbying of the state gov to set aside funding. All of these things are just part of what should have been happening AFTER THERE WAS A COMMUNICATED VISION of what was needed to move the university ahead.