Renovating the Mobile Civic Center into a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue is likely to be costly and require demolition of the existing facility. But the site could provide Mobile a lift in offering an attractive multi-purpose sports venue.
But the Arena is 58 years old, the touring acts rarely come. Instead of a historic rock house, the Mobile Civic Center Arena is now considered an unsightly relic. Its dome is faded, and the interior dark and dingy. Each year, the venue requires the city to fork over up $2 million to maintain. One city official once called it a“It’s been a festering eyesore for 30 years,” said Councilman Joel Daves. “At some point, have to make a decision on what to do with that piece of property.
The Arena’s fate is complicated because of several factors, some of which are unique to Mobile including Mardi Gras. The approximately two-week Carnival in Mobile remains, by far, Alabama’s largest annual festival.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.
It is no Mardi Gras mystery over the Arena’s popularity with the organizations that utilize it during Carnival season. “They are spending money hand over fist to throw the party,” said Councilman Ben Reynolds. “They are the operators of Mardi Gras.” It did not go anywhere. Among the critics were the downtown bars and eateries worried about the public sector subsidizing competing businesses.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.
Renovating the Civic Center into a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue is likely to be costly and require demolition of the existing facility. But the venue’s site could provide Mobile a lift in offering an attractive multi-purpose sports venue, which Corte and others in the city claim the city lacks.
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