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Jackblog

City United Behind JSU's Stadium Proposal

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, the leadership of the city of Jackson is united behind Jackson State University's proposal for a 50,000-seat domed stadium.

The proposed project, expected to cost approximately $250 million, got votes of confidence from the city council Tuesday night and from Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. Wednesday afternoon.

"I agree with this concept (of a domed stadium)," Johnson said. "I have gone on the record and said that I don't want to lose seats. We're the capital city and we have 62,000 seats in our stadium. We have to compete with Little Rock, Mobile, Baton Rouge and Memphis, as well as other venues in the south. If we ended up with a new outdoor stadium that seated 25,000 people, then I couldn't support that. Then I started meeting with the people at Jackson State, and a domed stadium would be unique to the state and the region. It also offers versatility that an open-air stadium would not offer. "

Jackson State officials have estimated the proposed stadium would infuse $64 million annually into the city's economy and host music and entertainment events and conventions along with sporting events.

The 50,000 seats would make the stadium the third-biggest stadium in the state behind Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in Oxford and Davis-Wade Stadium in Starkville. Both of those venues were built with private donations, are open-air and used almost exclusively for football.

Comments

Knowledge06 11 years ago

Let's be honest here. JSU has put City officials in a position to say they support the 'IDEA'. That doesn't mean that the City or County will commit any actual money to this 'IDEA'. The money doesn't make sense nor add up. For any City or County official to actually come out and say what they know to be the truth would pit them against JSU during an election year. Reality and politics usually don't mix.

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MelishiaDG 11 years ago

But if a politician wants to really step their game up, then they would not only come out in support of the idea, but also with a plan to help see it through. And politics are our reality, everyday.

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swalker 11 years ago

Can someone just fill me in on what the city actually wants. I hear talk of this 50,000 seat JSU stadium, I hear talk of a study for this 14,00 seat Arena to be on Farish St. and I hear talk about the Mississippi Coliseum Upgrades which will increase permanent seating to 7,000.

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