Memphis City Council Finalizes Approval of Resolution on Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Memphis City Council on Tuesday finalized its approval of a resolution allocating and appropriating $120 million in State grant funding to go towards renovations of Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, the home of Memphis Tiger Football, as well as transfer ownership of the stadium to the University of Memphis Auxiliary Services Foundation.

"We could not be more thrilled that the Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium ownership transfer and allocation of State funding for renovations have been approved," University of Memphis Vice President and Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Laird Veatch said. "Many people have been involved in helping get this process to the finish line. We are tremendously appreciative of the Fred Smith Family, the City of Memphis administration, the Memphis City Council, Fred Jones, Steve Ehrhart and the Memphis Grizzlies for working together to help develop a pathway to help our University and City ascend."

Thanks to what is made possible by the allocation of the State grant funding and the ownership transfer, Memphis Athletics will immediately initiate a leadership fundraising campaign to match the $50 million challenge gift made by the Frederick W. Smith Family for the stadium renovations.

All told, Memphis is designing a $220 million project, with $120 million currently available from State funding and $50 million needing to be raised to match the challenge gift of $50 million from the Fred Smith Family. Project partners MFA, Populous and Barton Malow, who have been involved in the project since its inception, are in the process of finalizing the designs so the optimal construction timeline to coincide with the new funding formula can be determined.

Additional details will be communicated as project benchmarks, and therefore the renovation's impacts on fans, are finalized.

For more information, visit www.GoTigersGo.com.

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Memphis City Council Finalizes Approval of Resolution on Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium

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