The landlord of Autozone Park, the City of Memphis, has finally approved money to repair deferred maintenance projects to bring the ballpark up to Major League Baseball standards. According to the City Chief Operation Officer Antonio Adams, “It is an asset that has gone into disrepair”. The city council approved $5 million in emergency money to fix HVAC issues and repair a malfunctioning fire supression system, amoung other deferred projects. The fire supression system hasn’t been updated in 25 years. The MLB minimum standards requirement for minor league ballparks include batting and pitching tunnels and a darker backdrop in centerfield that allows players to see the ball easier.
As the owner of the facility, the city is required to do basic maintinence and standard upkeep on the ballpark. Councilwoman Green suggested during a meeting on Tuesday, June 9th that the city was not responsible for these deferrred maintinence issues and was corrected by the City Chief Operation Officer, Anonio Adams. As the owner of the property (the landlord), the city is required to do maintinance. Some improvements that are directly related to tenant needs, may be negotioable in the contract, but basic upkeep of general systems should be performed by the owener of the property- the City of Memphis.
Councilman Chase Carlyle questioned the need to spend the money on the ballpark – “I’m sorry, people are playing pickelball. They are not going to baseball games. They are not going to minor league baseball games. At some point we have to say 30 years later, ‘Is baseball our best bet? Do we have the best tenant possible in there?’ ”
A good example of the cities willingness to allow it’s assets fall into disrepair is Mud Island.
