This is a rendering of the theater proposed to be built by the Elvis Presley Birthplace. Daily Journal archives

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Excerpts of a press release from the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation:

Tupelo, MS, July 27, 2010 – Haizlip Studio was selected after a competitive process by the board of the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation as the architectural firm to design new attractions at The Elvis Presley Birthplace in Tupelo. The project is funded by a Mississippi State Tourism grant for 2.8 million dollars to execute elements of a master plan for the expansion of the campus. The City of Tupelo recently agreed to fund the 20 percent local match.

Haizlip Studio is a planning and architecture firm based in Memphis and Asheville, North Carolina. They designed the Memphis Botanic Garden’s My Big Backyard, the University Center Multi-purpose Theater at the University of Memphis, and additions to the Louisiana Arts and Science Museum in Baton Rouge.

The expansion is based on the 2009 Master Plan created by Design 500 Inc., a museum planning and exhibit design firm located in Memphis. Design 500 redesigned the Birthplace Museum in 2007 and oversaw the moving and restoration of the Old Church where Elvis first attended services.

The new multi-purpose theater and event space is the first of several expansions to the birthplace. Completion of Phase One is estimated to be late in 2011.

Haizlip Studio joins the project design team of Design 500 Inc. and Richie Smith Associates, a landscape architectural firm.