Jackson St Seeking New Stadium?

[TexasTerror]

Article states Mississippi has used state money in the past for stadiums at the other Div I institutions in the state. Really? You wouldn't see that happen in other states including Texas.

Seems to me that no one has a concrete plan. Why was $15M spent recently on the two sports facilities in question and now they want to tear them both down? Does anyone have a plan?

They want to build an arena too, so they can bring in an af2 squad? Is that really going to draw in Jackson, MS?

Officials root for new stadium
Some say demolition best option
By Michael Wallace
[email protected]


Despite spending almost $15 million for renovations to two of Jackson's tradition-rich sports facilities, some state and local leaders are ready to tear them down.

State Rep. John Reeves, R-Jackson, wants to bulldoze 65-year-old Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium and build a $60 million to $70 million football stadium on or near Jackson State University.

Jackson Mayor Frank Melton wants Smith-Wills Stadium, a 31-year-old baseball stadium, razed and replaced with a multi-purpose arena in an effort to attract a minor league football team.

Melton and Reeves believe the projects, separately proposed, would bring people downtown after-hours.

"Not only is something like this realistic, it's also necessary," Reeves said. "People have come to realize we can't just sit back and let our capital city slide into complete decay.

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060419/NEWS/604190381

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http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060419/SPORTS02/604190350/1263

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http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060419/COL0504/604190323/1263

[jstate83]

Yes.................Plans have been in the works for years.

The only reason Memorial is still standing is because of JSU.
WE ARE THE ONLY SCHOOL IN THE STATE, FROM ANY DIVISION, THAT DON'T HAVE THEIR OWN STADIUM.

Ole Miss, USM, and Ms. State have not played in Jackson since the early 80's. Since then, USM is expanding, Ms State and Ole Ms have expanded their stadiums to as large or larger than Memorial. Ole Miss is the largest in the state now with 65,000.

The MAIN reason for renovating the stadium for JSU then was lack of space in West Jackson on or near campus. That problem has been solved since JSU have basically expanded is campus size bout 5 fold.

The Hospitals in that area have wanted the land for decades............even when OLE Miss and the other D1-A's were playing in Jackson on a regular. It's the most expensive and wanted land in central Mississippi because it's sorrounded by 3 hospitals that have run out of building space.

The Mississippi House of Rep's did 2 studies on 2 different types of stadiums 5 years ago when they were working on the budget. At the time money was very tight and they decided to use less and renovate. The studies for the 2 stadiums came out to something like $56 million for a 30 to 40 thousand seat stadium to something like $70 million for a 45 to 50 thousand seat on campus stadium.

The money just was not there then.

Since then, JSU has spent close to $150 million on expansion and improvements with a LOT more to come. Now that phase 3 has started, we are looking at another mega build ........................an on campus stadium just made it bigger.

Memorial is a great facility......ain't nothing wrong with it.
It's just in the wrong place.
A stadium on campus near downtown would be off the chain.
West Jackson would explode on a Saturday night if everyone had to come to campus for a game.

[SU Jag]

:eek: :eek: Imagine a game on campus, in Jackson, with two very good SU AND JSU teams:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jstate83]

:eek: :eek: Imagine a game on campus, in Jackson, with two very good SU AND JSU teams:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knowing how crazy and wide-open JSU campus is on a weekend...................Having an on campus game would be unbelievable.:nod:

Talk about tailgating.....................entire west-side neighborhood's would be 1 big tailgate/blockparty.xlolx xlolx

[SU Jag]

Knowing how crazy and wide-open JSU campus is on a weekend...................Having an on campus game would be unbelievable.:nod:

Talk about tailgating.....................entire west-side neighborhood's would be 1 big tailgate/blockparty.xlolx xlolx

Look at how big the SU/JSU game is now. Jackson State has been down and the stadium is not on campus, with all of that this game is still one of the most intense games and one of the best atmospheres in college football.:nod: