South Alabama would like to build a new stadium. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find an FBS program in more need of a new playing facility than the Jaguars. USA plays in Ladd-Peebles Stadium, which hits the trifecta of bad stadium arrangements:
A) Too big. (Ladd-Peebles holds 45,000. South Alabama’s proposed new stadium would hold 25,000.)
B) Too old. (Ladd-Peebles opened in 1948.)
C) Too far. (Google says it’s a 20-minute drive from campus.)
The school and the city have partnered on a proposal that would require $10 million of Mobile’s dollars over the course of a 20-year period, in exchange for $2.5 million from USA to Mobile earmarked for improvements to Ladd-Peebles Stadium.
Mobile’s city council held a vote on Tuesday, and the package failed by a 4-3 tally.
“I am disappointed with today’s decision. It sends a message to the NFL that the City does not support the Senior Bowl. It leaves Ladd Stadium with zero funding to create a facility that meets the needs of the neighborhood and the four high school football teams that play there. It leaves the City with no plan to solve the $33 million maintenance issue,” Mobile mayor Sandy Stimpson said in a statement. “Ladd will now have to compete with every other public facility fighting for funding. Over the course of the next 10 years, the City will accumulate $225 million in maintenance costs. This window of opportunity is gone, but we will continue to have to make tough choices on how we fund our public facilities.”
South Alabama’s stadium is expected to cost between $70 and $80 million. USA had no immediate comment on the vote. “I’m wishing South Alabama well, I’m hopeful they will be able to do what they need to do when they need to do it,” city council member Gina Gregory told AL.com.