The Mobile City Council has approved $200,000 to cover overhead costs at Ladd-Peebles Stadium while the city and the Mobile County Public School System move through the halfway mark of a 60-day due diligence period on the facility’s sale.
Although both sides have agreed to an intergovernmental agreement and a sale agreement, the stadium remains in city hands until the two-month evaluation window closes. Chief of Staff James Barber said the money is meant to keep operations running in the meantime.
Renovation Plans Take Shape
The due diligence period gives the school system time to assess the stadium’s condition and decide what repairs are needed. The district has already received $9.2 million from the city for upgrades, and a new artificial turf installation is complete — but no further work is planned until after the 2023 high school football season.
The city has given the school board a 30-month window during which it may close the stadium for up to 18 months of repairs. Board estimates put an additional $5.2 million toward that work, using funds originally earmarked to build Murphy High School a new football stadium.
Among the most closely watched changes: capacity will drop from roughly 40,000 seats to about 25,000. That figure had worried supporters of HBCU football, who feared games might not survive a deal unless seating stayed above 30,000. Under the agreement, the school system’s upgrades must accommodate temporary seating and future expansion.
Transition Timeline
Four weeks of high school football will be played before the school system takes full ownership, at which point the board becomes responsible for game functions such as security and assumes the stadium’s ongoing overhead costs.