What can you do with this old Arena? One Alabama city facing massive question

Few arenas left standing can rival the Mobile Civic Center’s history of hosting Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

Elvis Presley serenaded the venue throughout the 1970s. A picture of Elvis from the 1975 show serves on one of his albums.

The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Monkees, Tina Turner, Kiss, Michael Jackson, Fleetwood Mac, AC/DC, Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band, Cher, Prince, Journey, Elton John, and more, have rocked the aging venue.

Some council members say the time is close to decide and move on.

“It’s been a festering eyesore for 30 years,” said Councilman Joel Daves. “At some point, (city leaders) have to make a decision on what to do with that piece of property.”

For decades, city officials have wrestled on what to do with the Civic Center Arena that serves as the anchor of 22-acre site on the southwestern edge of downtown Mobile. Attached to the building is a theater, built in the same year, and Expo Hall that was built in 1973. All three are considered sorely outdated by modern standards for sports and entertainment venues.

The estimated price-tag: $132 million to $168 million.

Experts say, even after a costly renovation, there are limited options for old, circular-shaped arenas like the Mobile Civic Center. At one point, several years ago, the cost estimates of simply renovating the building’s faded roof was over $5 million.

“The problem is these facilities are used so infrequently and become economically obsolete,” said Rob Baade, a sports economist professor at Lake Forest College near Chicago and the former president of the International Association of Sports Economists.

Unique complications

Among them:

• The city lacks a professional or minor league sports team that could utilize a future arena or renovated structure as its permanent home. In larger cities where NBA or NHL franchises are located, older arenas are often imploded and replaced by newer facilities. The Mobile Mysticks hockey team, a minor league franchise that had some popularity in the 1990s, last played at the Civic Center in 2003.
• Mardi Gras’ influence looms the largest over the Arena’s fate. The structure was built in 1963 with Carnival in mind. The Arena’s concourse has multiple meeting rooms and event spaces that get plenty of use during the formal balls held during Carnival season. The Arena’s massive floor and stadium seating is a popular and familiar setting for the season’s largest balls.
• The Civic Center property is located next to a residential neighborhood that is managed by the Church Street East Neighborhood Association. The residents have been wary of past efforts to repurpose the Arena into a venue that would include more outdoor activities, which could increase noise. Downtown business owners are also uneasy about the potential of the public-owned facility transformed into something that could compete with private businesses located a few blocks away.

Mardi Gras

It is no Mardi Gras mystery over the Arena’s popularity with the organizations that utilize it during Carnival season.

The festival, by and large, still exists in the same format it did decades ago with Mardi Gras organizations – referred to as mystic societies – producing the parades that draw thousands of spectators through downtown Mobile. Following the parades, the mystic societies retreat to the Civic Center where they host a formal, invite-only ball.

The Civic Center’s location often serves as the starting and end point for the parades. The parking lot’s concrete surface area might be unpopular by modern urban planners who prefer more green spaces, but it is convenient for the Mardi Gras attendees. And the Arena’s circular configuration allows large organizations, like the Crewe of Columbus and the Mystic Stripers, to host an elaborate tableau – the term that refers to the entertainment preformed for the guests.

“I think everyone agrees a city like Mobile needs a Civic Center type of facility,” Dean said. “The unusual thing about Mobile as opposed to Cleveland or New York or Wichita is that we have this thing called Mardi Gras. Unfortunately, a lot of people who come in don’t understand that dynamic.”

Should Mardi Gras purchase it?

Mystic societies, in the past, expressed their concerns that repurposing the Arena will upend tradition, and potentially alter the city’s Mardi Gras traditions that are interwoven into the city’s cultural fabric. Mobile’s tagline, “Born to Celebrate” is a play on the city’s reputation as the “Birthplace of Mardi Gras.”

“They are spending money hand over fist to throw the party,” said Councilman Ben Reynolds. “They are the operators of Mardi Gras.”

Reynolds said he has been asked that question before. His answer: It doesn’t make any sense.

“I’ve heard people say, ‘Mardi Gras organizations have money and should just buy the Civic Center,’” he said. “But I say, ‘to what end?’ Does that mean Mardi Gras organizations buy the Civic Center and go broke and then we don’t have those party operators in Mobile? That doesn’t make a lot of sense, either.”

Indeed, Mardi Gras holds significant sway over the fate of the structure. A previous proposal for the Arena, pitched by Baltimore-based Cordish, included renovating it into a mixed-use indoor and outdoor venue similar to the trendy Live! Entertainment districts adjacent to professional sports venues in Atlanta and St. Louis.

City officials, three years ago, visited the 4th Street Live! Entertainment district in Louisville to see if that idea would work for Mobile.

Sports tourism

Mardi Gras aside, officials are looking at ideas to make the 22-acre Civic Center site a draw for Mobile and one that will draw visitors to the city.

Danny Corte, executive director with the Mobile Sports Authority, believes that sports tourism will bring the people if the Arena is repurposed into a rectangular facility.

Sports industry experts agree and note that some cities in other states including Texas are branding themselves as “sports cities” that host tournaments.

“Moving forward it would make sense to renovate it in a way to host multiple events,” said Thilo Kunkel, director of the sports industry research center at Temple University. “These events drive economic impact particularly when we talk about traveling teams and organizations that are bringing participants into the city over a weekend.”

“The building is round and there is only so much you can do with it,” Corte said about the current configuration. “I would need a building that would be an operate space, a rectangular building, to put the courts in. Whether that is the Civic Center site or another privately developed site, we need courts.”

Corte’s comment comes as indoor activities like basketball, volleyball and pickleball continue to serve as economic generators for cities with venues that can host competitive tournaments.

“You see a lot of facilities drawing on that,” said Amanda Ross, professor of economics at Culverhouse College of Business at the University of Alabama. “The rectangular reconfiguration helps more with volleyball, and pickleball is very much catching on and can be played indoors and outdoors. Switching the configuration would help it a lot to market (the Arena) for specific sports.”

“(The Arena) could be adjusted by (renovating) the seating areas and hospitality areas as well and that may be one option rather than ‘we need to tear it down because it’s round,’” said Kunkel.

Multi-purpose uses

“The indoor concerts are on the decline, and they are shifting to the outdoor (amphitheaters) from what I’ve observed,” she said. “In the South, people like the outdoor concerts more.”

Kunkel said that the entertainment acts could be a draw to a renovated indoor venue if catered to the right audience.

He said that Generation Z – youths born in the mid-1990s to 2010 – are showing a “big uptick” in spending for entertainment following the COVID-19 pandemic. He anticipates that trend continuing.

“We see events catering to older audiences decreasing,” he said.

His suggestion is to renovate into a multi-purpose facility that can host festivals and musical entertainment, sports, fitness facilities and “make it a hub that involves more than just watching games or tournaments, but making sure people come on a regular basis so it serves as a community center.”

For now, the city is contemplating what it should do with the entire 22-acre site. At issue is whether Mobile should press ahead with a proposed zoning change that would address the Civic Center’s redevelopment.

Some council members are suggesting the city slow down. Councilman William Carroll, whose council district includes the Civic Center, said a master plan is needed for the entire site. He said the Populous study focused only on the three buildings – the Arena, theater, and Expo Hall.

“No one is against development of the site,” said Carroll. “It’s not the buildings that are holding up the process. What is holding it up is the (lack of) a master plan for the raw site and what are the effects to the surrounding communities.”

Daves said he believes the venue has been studied plenty, only to hear objections from interest groups or community organizations that spark another round of studies.

And that gets expensive. The Populous study cost taxpayers more than $160,000.

He added, “How long will we continue to go through this merry-go-round of hiring experts, hearing objections, and deciding to hire more experts?

Some council members say they need more time, and more than they feel they have been given. The Corps has an aggressive time frame for its building, and its project could serve as a “catalyst for future development and a potential source of financing for future development,” according to Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s office.

Stimpson’s office said the first step is to get the zoning issues resolved. A tight timeline is an issue, with the Corps wanting to begin construction on its building by the first of 2023.

“From there, we are going to have to have some discussions with the mayor’s administration to work together to define what the path forward is,” Jones said.