MEMPHIS, Tenn.– The opening of the new Gatorade Fieldhouse training facility in Hernando, Mississippi has the potential to spawn huge growth in the city.
Greg Drumwright bought land near the McIngvale Road exit and built a 60,000 square foot athletics facility with actual basketball courts from the Memphis Tigers, Georgia Bulldogs, and Memphis Hustle, along with a training facility and indoor and outdoor turf field for baseball.
“The vision was just to find a place where my kids could play basketball,” Drumwright said.
It is the first business to plant roots in what Hernando Mayor Chip Johnson believes will blossom into an economic boom for his city.
“It’s probably the most valuable exit in the whole Mid-South at this point,” Mayor Johnson said.
The fieldhouse is located four miles away from downtown Hernando, but its proximity to other major areas is what gives it the potential to bring a lot of tax revenue to the city.
“It is 25 minutes from Beale Street, it’s about 30 minutes from Collierville, it is a blank slate. There is a brand-new exit on Interstate 69,” Johnson said.
“This facility is 73 acres total; Ortho south has been a partner of ours for a long way so they have actually committed to buying some land to build a doctor’s office out here,” Drumwright said.
The fieldhouse will host basketball tournaments year-round, bringing thousands of kids from all over to play on college and pro courts.
“Not only be able to host events but ways to push economic dollars back into the Hernando economy,” Drumwright said.
“We’re going to need hotels there. We are going to need restaurants, so it is going to draw amenities that the other citizens of Hernando can use,” Johnson said.
Mayor Johnson said at least ten businesses contacted him about the area. Now he is in talks to upgrade the city’s infrastructure to support its growth.
“We are going to have to put in a new water plant, so we are working with some local developers to help fund that water plant,” he said.
