Coliseum Closing For Now

A Memphis venue that once housed a noteworthy wrestling match between Andy Kaufman and Jerry Lawler and two shows on the Beatles’ final U.S. tour will go into “minimal maintenance mode” beginning in 2007.

The 12,000-seat Mid-South Coliseum will close except for graduations and community events, Cindy Buchanan, director of park services, told the Commercial Appeal. But the closure doesn’t necessarily mean the venue is set for destruction.

Operating deficits for the fiscal year could amount to $400,000, officials said, and the best way to “stop the bleeding” is to shut down the building while deciding its fate.

During that period, the city will assess prospects for the venue and the costs to renovate it. Coliseum director Steve Fox told the paper that, in the end, local government should be able find a role for the building in lieu of razing it.

“I’m also very hopeful that prior to that, there will be a firm offer from a private group to try and secure the building’s future by privatization,” Fox said. “I think either one of those two [scenarios] are going to develop.”

The Coliseum faced stiff competition following the opening of the 19,500-seat Pyramid Arena in 1991, and has booked few major events in recent years.

With talks in the works to convert the Pyramid into a Bass Pro Shops store, Buchanan told the paper the Coliseum could once again play a secondary role in the market – hosting events that can’t fill the FedExForum.

“It looks like there probably is a need for the big facility, the FedExForum, and one other facility,” she said.

Mid-South recently hosted Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Widespread Panic, and 311.