The City of Mobile will consider selling historic Ladd-Peebles Stadium to the Mobile County Public School System and making a significant investment into the future of the facility, according to a news release Friday morning.

The release states that, in recent weeks, the City of Mobile was notified that the 75-year-old stadium is in arrears on utility payments and unable to meet payroll obligations. The City will immediately take over operations, assuming its operating expenses and bringing Ladd employees on as city employees.

WKRG in Mobile was the first to report late Thursday night.

According to Jason Johnson, Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s Deputy Director of Communications, the Mobile City Council will consider on Tuesday an agreement transferring the property to MCPSS for $1 as well as an agreement providing up to $9 million in maintenance and improvements and an emergency contract for field repairs needed to safely host games next fall.

The agreements must be approved by both the City Council and the Mobile County Board of Commissioners.

“Mayor Sandy Stimpson’s administration has worked with the leadership of MCPSS and the Mobile City Council to come up with a long-term solution that can be a win-win for all the parties involved,” the release said. “As part of the intergovernmental agreement with MCPSS, the school system would allow the local community to continue using the walking track at Ladd Peebles and the City of Mobile would be able to continue using the stadium to host popular HBCU football games like the Port City Classic and Gulf Coast Challenge.”

Multiple Mobile County High Schools have traditionally used Ladd as their home football field, but new on-campus facilities at LeFlore, Vigor, Davidson and B.C. Rain leave only Murphy and Williamson as public high schools without their own football facility.

In March, the Mobile County Board of Commissioners approved a plan to proceed with the leasing of the property next to Williamson for eventual construction of a stadium at that school, which is located directly behind Ladd.

“We are looking forward to working with the City of Mobile on this proposal,” MCPSS superintendent Chresal Threadgill said. “If these agreements come to fruition, it will be a great benefit to Mobile County Public Schools students and the community at-large.”

In October of 2021, MCPSS opted not to play any further football games that fall at Ladd after a shooting on the concourse injured nine fans during a game between Vigor and Williamson. However, last August, MCPSS announced it would return games to Ladd with increased security and did so in 2022 with no further incidents.

Mobile County District 5 commissioner Johnny Hatcher told AL.com he thinks the proposed deal — if it goes through — will be huge for the City and MCPSS.

“It will be a vast improvement for all,” Hatcher said. “They say, ‘So goes Mobile, so goes Mobile County.’ There is some truth to that. But I can tell you for sure, ‘So goes Mobile County Public Schools, so goes Mobile County.’ Period. We must continue to invest and put things in place for our children.”

Hatcher said the proposed deal won’t have an affect on the plans to build Williamson High its own stadium.

“We worked hard to get that done,” he said. “They said that is what they wanted, and I would like to think they are going to be proud to get it. … I realize some may think it is crazy to have two stadiums right next to each other, but it’s the right thing to do. Now, we have the opportunity to potentially turn Ladd into one of the finest sports complexes in the South with this investment. It’s all preliminary right now, but it’s exciting to think about and see the potential for our students.”

If the City and the Mobile County Board of Commissioners agrees on proposal, Ladd likely would serve as Murphy’s homefield. That school is landlocked in downtown Mobile, and an on-campus stadium is not feasible. Ladd could also host graduations, band battles and other MCPSS events.