Mississippi State University and city of Starkville officials have confirmed discussions are continuing for a potential Bulldog Bash location.
Last week, the MSU Student Association announced the popular fall music festival will move from its usual location in the Cotton District at the intersection of University Drive and Maxwell Street to the amphitheater on the university campus, which lies outside the city limits. The move, according to MSUSA press release, was due to “new property development of our previous location and other surrounding businesses not allowing area use.”
On Friday, however, city and university officials indicated that–while nothing is official–some discussions are still ongoing to find a suitable spot in the city.
“I took part in a meeting (Thursday) that involved leaders from the city, the Student Association and the division of Student Affairs,” Mayor Parker Wiseman said. “We expressed a desire to do anything possible to help have the event in town.”
Wiseman said university leaders will evaluate logistical matters associated with in-town locations. He said the city’s general goal is to have the event in close proximity to the Cotton District.
A follow-up meeting is expected sometime in the coming weeks, Wiseman said.
MSU Chief Communications Officer Sid Salter confirmed negotiations are in process. However, he said the university isn’t ready to discuss those publicly.
“We’re optimistic that all parties want to try to reach an accommodation that’s satisfactory to everyone,” Salter said. “At this point, the university is not at a point where we want to comment. Our students play a great role in this as well.”
MSUSA President Roxanne Raven declined to comment when reached on Friday.
Town-gown relations
Last week, Raven told The Dispatch the Student Association chose the amphitheater due to its large stage and ability to support the outdoor concert. She said alternate sites downtown and on Russell Street couldn’t accommodate Bulldog Bash’s logistical needs.
Raven also indicated future MSUSA administrations may consider moving Bulldog Bash back to the Cotton District.
Wiseman said city leadership would “love” to have the event in the city if possible. Bulldog Bash, which is one of the largest events of the year for the Starkville area, regularly draws more than 30,000 people.
“It’s a big impact on our local businesses, particularly in the area of the event,” Wiseman said. “It’s a big tourism driver. It brings people in from other places and it’s good for the image of the city, particularly our town-gown relationship. Those are all important factors for us, and for me, to have a desire for it to be in the city.”
‘A good way to kill it’
There is some concern that moving Bulldog Bash from its traditional location will hurt the businesses in the area that rely on the crowds that flock to the Cotton District for the event.
Dan Camp, a former Starkville mayor and real estate mogul who owns a significant amount of property in the Cotton District, said Bulldog Bash is one of the biggest nights of the year for the small venue businesses in the district. If moving the event from the Cotton District hurts business, Camp said, it will lessen the amount of 2-percent food and beverage tax the city collects. Some of that tax money is in turn distributed to the MSUSA.
“The big problem I see is that with the 2-percent tax money, you’re taking it away from those who give you that money,” he said. “You’re slapping the hand that gives you the tax money. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Last year, aldermen allotted MSUSA $390,000 from its 2-percent budget sales tax budget. Approximately $145,000 went toward funding Bulldog Bash, while another $150,000 supported Music Makers Production, the student group that procures bands for campus festivals and other performances.
The remainder of the funding supported the Old Main Music Festival, Cowbell Cabs and the MSU Lyceum Series.
Camp, who said he’s “never not supportive” of the university hosting events in the Cotton District, added no one with the Student Association approached him about the move or about any of the cited “logistical issues.”
Camp said he’d still support Bulldog Bash returning to the Cotton District, if MSUSA decides to do so in future years. Still, he wonders how much the move might hurt the event, which he described as a powerful recruitment tool for the university, this year.
“In the past, we used to have a spring event called ‘Down in the District,'” Camp said. “It used to draw 20,000-25,000 people. A previous vice president for Student Affairs had it moved. The first year they had it in the amphitheater, they had half the attendance they had in the district the previous year. Now you never hear about it.
“To me, this is a good way to kill it,” he added.
Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.
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