I saw on twitter this morning where Toby Barker was going back and forth with folks about NIL stuff.

In one of the responses he says that USM was getting half of a 1% tax and that he believed that the AD was working with an architect for a master plan for RGC and it should be revealed soon. First I'd heard of it, anybody got any scoop?

Sorry no link it was on my phone earlier this morning.

Yes. There was a one cent tax on food and beverages sold in the city that was enacted a few years ago. Half goes to parks and recreation improvements (of which there have been a lot especially in some of the neglected areas of the city) and the other half goes to USM Athletic facilities improvements (specifically RGC). The thought is to modernize RGC so Hattiesburg can once again host concerts, events, etc. that benefit the city and have an economic impact.

The bidding for design and architecture started a few months ago. The anticipated budget is $15-20M right now.

Here’s the bid request for an architect, which includes the to-do list:

https://www.constructionjournal.com/proj...S3kbpzDnFU

Cool info, thanks for sharing link!

Good info, hopefully something great on the horizon.

USM and Hattiesburg had the chance to build a multi-purpose facility after Elam Arms was damaged by the Tornado. All types of grant money was available. That would have been the perfect spot to have a City/USM shared merger deal. Also had room for a parking garage where the Parking lot the West was located. Could have concerts, BBall, high school, JUCO etc.

(08-16-2022 02:43 PM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  USM and Hattiesburg had the chance to build a multi-purpose facility after Elam Arms was damaged by the Tornado. All types of grant money was available. That would have been the perfect spot to have a City/USM shared merger deal. Also had room for a parking garage where the Parking lot the West was located. Could have concerts, BBall, high school, JUCO etc.

But Johnny Dupree was the mayor at the time, which meant nothing would happen. His administration couldn’t produce a complete set of accounting records for audit for multiple years. That’s step one for getting grant money.