13-03-2025
Memphis postpones Mud Island Amphitheater over safety issues
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — One group is working to resuscitate the Mud Island Amphitheater by staging a Comeback Concert Series in April.
Jerred Price heads Save the Amphitheater and is the president of the Downtown Neighborhood Association.
'I think that it's 1 of the greatest assets that we have in this city, and it's been neglected long enough,' said Price.
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This week, the City of Memphis said the shows wouldn't go on right now, citing multiple safety hazards and liability issues.
'I think that there's some minor repairs that need to be done,' said Price. 'And that was listed in the ADA consultant's report that I was there walking with her, and even our engineers said, There's some trip hazards and some minor things that need to be done.'
The city hired an outside architectural firm to produce a report on the amphitheater. Some of the concerns are 'obstructions to critical life safety elements, noncompliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and notable structural displacement.'
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'Look, we have to put the safety of our citizens and our visitors first, so we're going to make sure that when and if we reactivate Mud Island, it's a safe place for people to go,' said Mempis City Councilwoman Jerri Green.
Amphitheater supporters believe that after repairs are made, the pop-up concerts will eventually happen.
Price said the repairs could not be done by April, and that's what the decision from Wednesday was, but the answer was the event could still happen sometime in the future.
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'But we are at an inflection point where we can re imagine and we can do things new and different just like we did with Tom Lee (Park) and make it better, so we definitely need to upgrade and invest,' said Green.
'Our downtown is hurting right now for businesses. We're missing the tourism. We're missing concerts, people,' said Green. 'We're missing patrons downtown. And an event like this would really benefit our downtown economy and our overall city.'
The Mud Island Amphitheater opened in 1982 as part of the larger Mud Island River amphitheater hasn't hosted a major concert there since 2018.
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