You’ve got to hand it to the folks who oversee the day-to-day at city hall in Memphis, especially when it comes to Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium.
Built in 1965 at a cost of $3 million, it’s one of the oldest stadiums in the south.
It’s also one of the reasons why Memphis was unable to land an NFL franchise when the league last expanded and why the University of Memphis has been left out of an automatic qualifying BCS conference.
A few weeks ago, ground was broken for a new lawn with tailgating space at the stadium. Officials say the new area will be ready for the 2010 college football season.
The tailgating area will be called Tiger Lane and is the centerpiece of a $15 million effort to enhance the Mid-South Fairgrounds near the stadium.
Flanking the lane will be 600 premium tailgating pads and a new wall with six entrances near the stadium will create a pedestrian plaza.
Gee, that’s great news.
Instead of focusing on the real issue, the city continues to pour money into the Liberty Bowl when they should be thinking about building a new football stadium.
With the addition of Tiger Lane, nearly $50 million has been spent on renovations over the past 45 years for the outdated Liberty Bowl stadium.
Those millions could have been used to begin construction on a new facility, one that offers fans an enjoyable game day experience.
University of Memphis officials are under the illusion that the new entrance and lawn could help them land in an automatic qualifying BCS conference.
It’s okay to dream I guess, but a new tailgating area for a 45-year-old stadium located in a decaying neighborhood with no parking, lousy concessions, abysmal restrooms, limited luxury boxes and a horde of stainless steel backless seats isn’t going to help the school get a major BCS conference invitation.
The only thing separating the University of Memphis and an automatic qualifying BCS conference membership is the lack of a first-rate football stadium.
Until someone gets their heads firmly wrapped around that fact, the Tigers are going to remain in second-rate Conference USA.
