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Originally Posted by Huntsvillenative
There's no way to expand the CCC except building on top. And that would require ALOT of additional infrastructural developing which would be extremely costly. It would be cheaper to go the route of a new multi-use indoor stadium to replace the aging Liberty Bowl and to take care of the convention issue. Otherwise Memphians will be paying out of the butt for a new CC just to keep pace with Nashville. That's not smart investing.
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And building a domed stadium without an NFL team with suites purchased by corporate companies is? I don't think expanding the Cook is wise by any means, but convention centers hold conventions, domed stadiums are for football games. That's not saying a stadium can't hold conventions, but if you're in the game to bring conventions to town, don't build an indoor stadium when trying to compete with cities that have built convention centers.
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Both Ehrhart and SHC CEO Fred Jones have expressed that they would prefer a new stadium but are satisfied with the Liberty Bowl Stadium as long as it's upgraded. But the city is wasting money pumping it into an outdated stadium that lacks amenities and luxury suites close to the field. That's where the money is made. As for the capacity issue, the current seating is only 59,000 since the ADA upgrades were made this year. And there was talk about reconfiguration of the seating to replace bleachers with all chairbacks, but it would be too expensive for a 50+ year old stadium to undergo. It would be more feasible to invest into a new stadium instead. An indoor stadium that operates as a convention center, a la the Alamodome in San Antonio, would be perfect for a city like Memphis and the wisest move.
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San Antonio built the Alamo Dome to attract an NFL team, when that fell through they utilized what they already had to hold conventions.
The Liberty Bowl and Southern Heritage Classic as well as Memphis football aren't enough to justify a domed stadium. That's not a knock on any of them, it's just that for a domed stadium that size, you need an NFL team that brings in millions of dollars. The City is pumping money into the Liberty Bowl because they understand the current tenants' needs.
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Another reason why an indoor stadium/convention center is a great idea is because of the overwhelming cost for a new cc. A new one in Memphis would cost around $500-600 million at least. Whereas an indoor stadium/cc could be built for about $350 million. It does not have to be a retractable roof stadium either. Make it a stationary roof, reducing the construction cost. Another possibility could be to build it like the former RCA Dome in Indianapolis, where the bowl seating was all chairback and the upper deck was all bleachers. This option would reduce the cost even more, to maybe as cheap as $300 million. That's half of what a new cc would cost.
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A domed stadium, or any new stadium with bleacher seating is an extreme shortcoming. If you're going to spend money, at least make it nice.