COGIC letter delivers useful insight for city

Now that was a nice idea. A new football stadium in Memphis, something along the lines of the new U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

More than enough seats for everyone who would show up if the Church of God in Christ moved its Annual Holy Convocation from St. Louis back to Memphis, where it belongs. With a roof to keep them dry.

The cost: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it. Which is exactly where Memphis stands on the issue.

It was a useful letter, though, from Bishop David Allen Hall of the Temple Church of God and Christ to Mayor Jim Strickland in which the mayor was advised that a big new stadium could help lure COGIC back to the city with which it shares so much common history.

The must-read missive might as well have been suggesting a replica of the Palace of Versailles on Mud Island. And it’s not clear what would be gained by following the bishop’s other recommendations — payingoffthebondsonFedExForumandThePyramid.

But the letter usefully reminded Memphians of the city’s potential as a convention site, if only facilities were adequate to accommodate crowds as large as the COGIC confab’s 30,000. So let’s keep the conversation rolling. In addition to the old standbys like the Memphis Zoo, the National Civil Rights Museum, Graceland and Beale Street, we’ve got new cruise ships docking at Beale Street Landing. We’ve got Bass Pro Shops attracting millions of visitors a year.

Altogether, some 10.5 million people a year are visiting Memphis, generating about $3.2 billion in spending. According to the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau, about 35,000 people are employed in tourism and hospitality here with a total annual payroll of $606 million.

How much would the industry grow if the city could capitalize on its mystique and its music to become a major convention site?

Compare Shelby County’s $3.2 billion in tourism spending to Nashville’s $5.7 billion. Or New Orleans’ $7.1 billion. That’s how much.

Of course, conventioneers need a place to sleep, or at least a place to recharge their cellphones. That would be hotel rooms, of which Memphis has an inadequate supply. And they need big, modern and spacious convention centers.

There are some modest but positive developments along those lines, including a plan to update the Memphis Cook Convention Center with the additional funds raised by increasing the city’s hotel tax last year.

And Strickland reminds us that a new hotel adjacent to the convention center with at least 600 rooms may be in the works.

This is a conversation that should continue, undeterred by what may seem like more pressing current concerns. Any ideas, from billion-dollar football stadiums on down, are certainly welcome.