This is a bit of an interesting debate here. It starts with the question of if downtown jackson can be saved.
I want the answer to be yes, but after being in the area for 20+ years the internal leadership and supportive base is getting worse, not better.
I don’t think the arguments for having it on campus are strong enough to make that far and away the leading option.
Utopia would be to have it close to campus but part of a big downtown revitalize project but I just have so little faith in that happening.
Giving it about 5 min of thought and having no idea of the available land, building something around LeFluers or Smith Wills makes some long term sense.
First, you have to start with the viewpoint that it really can't get much worse. Accepting that, yes, downtown Jackson can absolutely be saved. The bones are there for it to be very cool. And again, it can only get better.
The revitalization WILL happen, at some point. It may just take a pro-business mayor, simple as that. There are a lot of young people in Jackson now, and they'll eventually vote someone decent in.
Jackson is just about 20 years behind other cities around the South. I mean they were building a stadium in the suburbs, when others were figuring out that it benefited the whole area by being downtown. Looks like they are about to make a similar mistake with JSU's stadium, although it will definitely be cheaper by being on-campus. It'll certainly never attract anything major.
And maybe that's fine. I'd rather invest in a nice arena, whenever the time comes for that. A lot more potential than a football stadium, which can basically only host JSU football, a bowl game, maybe some soccer or something. MSU, Ole Miss and USM have zero interest in moving home football games away from their own stadiums. An arena can hold all-weather concerts, NCAA basketball, etc. If Jackson doesn't do this, Flowood probably eventually will.
