Give Me Liberty

Official Review by Leroy Watson, Stadium Journey Regional Correspondent

The year was 1965. The Beatles had taken America by storm just one year prior, Lyndon Baines Johnson was in his final year as U.S. President, leaded gasoline cost $0.31 a gallon and the United States began bombing runs against the Viet Cong as our country's role in the Vietnam War grew rapidly.

It's also the year that the City of Memphis made a $3.7 million investment in their future by opening Memphis Memorial Stadium, the anchor and crown jewel of the Mid-South Fairgrounds complex, which also included the American Legion baseball stadium and the Mid-South Coliseum (each opened for business in 1963). American Legion Field, which seated 8,800 and would later be re-named Blues Stadium before finally being christened Tim McCarver Stadium, the Coliseum and Memorial Stadium were all within walking distance of one another and were erected on the East side of Early Maxwell Boulevard. Libertyland amusement park and the Mid-South Fairgrounds occupied the land to the West of Early Maxwell, with the exception of the livestock stables, which crossed over both sides of Early Maxwell between the football and baseball stadiums.

Memorial Stadium was built primarily to lure the Liberty Bowl football game to the city of Memphis. The bowl game had drawn very poorly in its original home of Philadelphia, PA, and even worse in its one year in Atlantic City, NJ. It was an instant smash success in Memphis, so much so that the football stadium was re-named Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in 1976.

The Liberty Bowl, now known as the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, remains a major tenant of the facility to this day. The wildly popular Southern Heritage Classic football game, pitting prominent Historically Black Colleges and Universities Tennessee State and Jackson State, has been contested in the stadium since 1989. The Classic has become the largest annual sporting event in the city of Memphis.

The University of Memphis football team, however, is the most regular tenant of the Liberty Bowl, with their annual spring Blue-Gray game as well as their home football games every fall.

Over the years, the venerable Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium has held many noteworthy games. Perhaps the best known in many circles was the 1982 Liberty Bowl, won by the Alabama Crimson Tide, 21-15, over Illinois. Less than a month later, legendary Alabama head coach Bear Bryant passed away after a heart attack, making that '82 Liberty Bowl both his final game and victory.

The venue has also hosted some very notable non-football related events, as well. On July 4, 1975, the Rolling Stones performed in concert at the stadium with about 51,000 people in attendance. Among the opening acts were the Charlie Daniels Band and the J. Geils Band. The event was infamous for running out of concessions and ice in 95-degree weather, with stadium personnel turning on water hoses to let patrons spray each other in a bid to cool off. The playing surface, after being trampled by some 12,000 screaming fans on the field, was an utter quagmire that took days to repair.

The Monsters of Rock tour took Memphis by storm on July 8-9, 1988. It was one of the largest, loudest tour events in the world up to that time, and part of the first-ever traveling concert series of its kind in U.S. history. The tour was headlined by international superstars Van Halen and supported by such stellar acts as Metallica, Scorpions and Dokken. And once again, fire hoses were brought in to cool off the fans, sweltering in temperatures hovering between 95- and 100-degrees. It was estimated that peak attendance was around 45,000-50,000 for Van Halen.

The stadium truly is a "bowl" and was the first in the U.S. to be built with two high concourses that swept down to two lower concourses, but all in a single tier. It was built with the East side, along Hollywood Street, lower than the seating on the West side. This set initial capacity at 50,160. In 1984, Coca-Cola Bottling sponsored the installation of what was then the largest scoreboard in the Mid-South, a 100-foot wide by 23-foot tall unit. The first (and likely only) major renovation to the venue came in 1987 and cost $19.5 million. It balanced the height of each side, swelled peak attendance to 62,370, affixed luxury boxes to the top of the East concourse, and saw improvements to the concessions, lighting, playing surface, restrooms and handicap seating. This was followed by a 1999 re-working that took capacity to an all-time high of 62,921. Various minor alterations were made to increase the comfort level of attendees over the next decade or so and now the listed capacity is 61,008. And a new FieldTurf playing surface was installed in 2005 at a cost of $850,000.

Bounds & Gillespie Architects handled plans for the 1987 and 1999 renovations.

In December 1983, the city of Memphis honored the memory of fallen head coach Rex Dockery, who was killed in a plane crash on December 12th of that year. The playing surface at the Liberty Bowl was re-named Rex Dockery Field.

Deliberations over the long-term future of the Liberty Bowl have raged for years. In 2010, it was decided that the grounds around the facility would be upgraded, and $15.7 million in capital improvements were approved by the City Council. The largest chunk of that budget was devoted to creating Tiger Lane—a spectacular tailgating area—along with a new grand West entrance. Tiger Lane was christened by the world-renowned Memphis in May Barbecue Contest in the Spring of 2011, thanks to the submersion of downtown Tom Lee Park under flood waters. The official opening of Tiger Lane, however, occurred on September 18, 2011 at a home game versus Middle Tennessee State.

The old stadium has aged well, but a nearly 50-year old stadium is at an inherent disadvantage when being compared to more modern venues. One glaring problem is the lack of club seats, which are typically sandwiched between the upper and lower concourses of modern stadiums. It is the sort of revenue-killer that led the city of Memphis to shut down the Pyramid Arena and open the FedEx Forum in 2004. There are only scattered seat backs in the building. The risers leading to the upper seats are relatively steep. And it would cost untold millions to retro-fit the Liberty Bowl, more than it would cost to build a brand new venue from scratch.

Food & Beverage    4

This is Memphis, so the food is guaranteed to be good. But the old stadium wasn't built with the modern-day amenities in mind. There are no restaurants on site, and even the concession stands seem to be spaced a little too far apart. The food is good; the pizza by the slice from Coletta's is wonderful, the BBQ nachos receive rave reviews, the sausage sandwiches are filling. But there are no exotic food choices to speak of, not a lot of variety of menu items to choose from. So as good as the Memphis food is—and having Coletta's, Hogwild BBQ and the world-famous Uncle Lou's (made even more popular by his inclusion on Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives) as vendors is extremely impressive—I can't give it a 5 unless the stadium gives the fans something beyond typical stadium fare. Prices are about average, nothing to write home about.

Atmosphere    3

This was a tough grade to pin down, but in the end, Tiger Lane helped the score in this category. Simply put, the atmosphere within Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium leaves much to be desired, because there are rarely enough fans present to generate the electricity the venerable building once thrived on. Memphis Tiger fans are as rabid as any others in the country; the problem is that right now, not enough of them show up for games.

However, they sure love to tailgate! If you want to have fun on a Saturday afternoon during college football season in Memphis, take a stroll down Tiger Lane and enjoy some raucous tailgating fun. There's a small bounce park for the kids, Tiger cheerleaders love to roam around taking pictures for and with fans, Tom III—the Bengal tiger mascot of the team—chills out in his air-conditioned travel trailer, the football team walks right through the crowd on the way to the game, and the world's best amateur barbecuers are doing their thing. I suspect that a percentage of them never make it inside the building, but a winning football team will cure that. If the joint ever gets to jumping inside like it does before the game on Tiger Lane, the "Atmosphere" score will go up.

Neighborhood    4

This is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city of Memphis. The stadium is bounded by iconic Orange Mound on the South, East Parkway on the West and the gorgeous campus of Christian Brothers University on the North. The immediate streets to the East leave something to be desired, but within easy driving distance to the Northeast is the Chickasaw Gardens neighborhood, one of the most exclusive in Memphis.

As for attractions, they're not extremely plentiful. But the Children's Museum of Memphis (2525 Central Avenue) is adjacent to the stadium's North parking lot and is an amazing place to take pre-teens for a few hours of wholesome entertainment. Just past Chickasaw Gardens is the Pink Palace Museum and Planetarium (3050 Central Avenue), one of my favorite Memphis landmarks. It's a fascinating snap shot of the history of Memphis and the Mid-South and good for hours of education.

There are not a lot of eating establishments within close proximity of the Liberty Bowl, but the one that's closest is superb: Central BBQ (2249 Central Avenue), some of the best 'cue in town and just one block Northwest of the stadium. Keep driving West down Central and make a left on Cooper and you're smack in the heart of the Cooper-Young district. It's something like Beale Street East for nighttime partygoers, not exactly kid friendly. To find food and atmosphere for the children, you have to head North on Parkway or Hollywood and get off on either Union Avenue or Poplar Avenue.

On game day, once you get out of the bottleneck around the grounds, either major thoroughfare is easy to find, and just about anything you could want to eat or do is easily accessible. In other words, a family wanting to make a day or even weekend of a trip to the Liberty Bowl for an event won't have much of a problem, but a GPS might not be a bad idea; the nearest good hotel is the Holiday Inn at the University of Memphis (3700 Central Avenue) but if it's full you've got to hoof it over to the downtown Memphis area. Then again, those hotels are all easy to find from either Poplar or Union so it doesn't make for a particularly difficult commute.

Fans    0

Well, as noted before, there aren't enough fans in the stands of the Liberty Bowl to give it a great score. The ones that are there, unfortunately, tend to be older and thus a bit laid back. I can't help but wonder what it would be like to get an infusion of students, or at least student-aged fans, into the building. Younger fans, logically enough, have more energy and display their passion for the game in much more boisterous, gregarious ways. Just what you need for a football game.

It's not the stadium's fault, of course, but it's a part of the experience, and right now, it's sorely lacking. Tiger fans do a good job of sensing when the team could use a pick-me-up and are good about making noise. And the fans are all decked out in Tiger blue; I love the blinking shades with flashing blue lights. And then there's the tailgating on Tiger Lane, where the fans are free and giving with samples of barbecue. I still can't help wondering though, 'What if. . .?'

Access    2

For most games, when crowds are light, getting to the Liberty Bowl and parking is a breeze. Prices are reasonable: $10 for a well-lit, secure parking spot on the North end of the site. From there, it's a short walk to the main entrance or to Tiger Lane. But when there's a big game, the gridlock on the way to the stadium is unbearable. And then, you might end up parking in someone's front yard along East Parkway; your vehicle will be very secure but you'll be parked in grass, not good if a rain squall comes up. It is terribly frustrating inching slowly along, desperately searching for a place to leave your car. At moments like that, I would gladly pay $50 to find a decent spot and get to the stadium. And beware of parking too far East of Hollywood Street, as there is a dicey neighborhood where you can park for free but it's not a wise idea.

Continued improvements to the area around the Liberty Bowl promise to alleviate some of these issues; frankly, I wish they would tear down the old Mid-South Coliseum and build a multi-level parking garage there. Also, in the stadium itself, though the bathrooms have been renovated 2 or 3 times, they still leave a little something to be desired. Internet access—who even dreamed such a thing would be possible way back during the Vietnam War era?--is practically nil, even in the press box, where the service routinely drops without notice. The idea of retrofitting the Liberty Bowl to dramatically improve such drawbacks isn't economically feasible.

Return on Investment    5

A Memphis football ticket is a great value. Prices have been reduced everywhere in the building, and basic season ticket costs are just $55 for 6 games. That's less than $10 per game. Parking (get there early for the best spots) is affordable. If you roam Tiger Lane long enough, you'll likely find someone who will give you a free sample of barbecue (at least, that's the way it happened for me!) or maybe you have a friend with a bay (I've gone that route, too). Food and drink prices inside the facility are manageable. And I guarantee you'll have a good seat. It's really a good deal, all-in-all.

Extras    5

The brand new grand entrance to the stadium is gorgeous, especially at night, when it all lights up blue. Tiger Lane was a brilliant idea (the bays sold out within mere weeks) and there appears to be a new tradition emerging which will draw the Tiger football team closer to the fans. Easy availability to a splendid eating place (Central Barbecue), children's entertainment (Children's Museum of Memphis) and the Pink Palace, all of which are very affordable and engrossing, warrants extra points. And the stadium itself has quite a long, storied history. It's far from perfect but the old building has become ensconced as a piece of the very fabric of Memphis history.

Final Thoughts

The future of the Liberty Bowl is very much in doubt. But the sight lines at the venue are very clean, and there are very few bad seats in the house. If you get the opportunity to take in a football game there, do so while you still can. Though Shirley Raines with the University of Memphis says the school is not going to pursue an on-campus arena anytime soon, public sentiment is not on her side. If the Liberty Bowl is still in business a decade from now, it will be a huge surprise.

**Lead photo attributed to Halpaugh