Future of Mud Island, amphitheater is hot topic at city council

David Royer
·3 min read
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — What would the empty Mud Island Amphitheater need to bring concerts back to the river? A study may be underway to find that out.

“There is continued interest in the amphitheater,” said Art Davis, COO of Memphis River Parks Partnership, which manages the venue along with surrounding Mud Island River Park

The Mud Island Amphitheater, which opened in 1982, has 4,000 seats and could be expanded to 5,000. It hosted its last concert in 2018.

“It’s a great venue, if you’ve ever been to a concert there, it’s fantastic,” Council member Jeff Warren said.

Davis said the group asked a local architecture firm to study the amphitheater and see what it would take to create a modern, state-of-the-art facility. MRPP has previously said the venue is outdated and doesn’t meet modern concert needs.

Music may be back in the future for Mud Island Amphitheater

The study by firm archimania would cost $181,000. That amount was questioned by some council members, who noted there was a previous Mud Island study done for $75,000. It was unclear whether the previous study had ever been presented to the council or the community.

Jerred Price with the Downtown Neighborhood Association said there were other local architecture firms that would be willing to do the study for free for the chance to work on the project.

“The Mud Island Amphitheater is something that is very near and dear to the downtown community. Overwhelming support for its restoration exists,” Price said.

A report produced by AllWorld Project Management in 2019 estimated the cost to make the venue competitive in today’s market would be up to $11 million.

“We see what Mud Island looks like, and we know what it could possibly be,” Council member Yolanda Cooper-Sutton said. “What we don’t want to do is keep studying and studying and studying, and nothing is done. We’re losing money, at cost. Either we’re gonna do it, or we’re not.”

Mud Island is city-owned, but MRPP is under contract with the city to manage it.

MRPP wants to use $3M in Mud Island money for Tom Lee Park

Council member Jana Swearengen-Washington remembered a time when more attractions operated at Mud Island River Park. She asked whether the city’s parks division could take over managing the park.

The idea of studying that possibility seemed to resonate with some other city council members, though city COO Antonio Adams said a feasibility study would need to be done.

“We did enter this agreement for a particular purpose, and there was a business reason to do so,” Adams said. “Now we need to look to see if that business reason exists for us to be able to bring it back in-house.”

City parks director Nick Walker said the city gives MRPP a $3.5 million grant for operations. Davis said there are nine more years left in that contract.

“It seems like we’re just at a standstill,” Swearengen-Washington said. “I know I’ve been on the council for a year, and it seems like Mud Island is just…there.”

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