TUPELO - A host of new construction projects pitched within the past decade sit idle or drag slowly for lack of funding, momentum or permission.

Only two - the aquatic center and the Elvis birthplace expansion - currently are advancing.

If the others come to fruition, they'll add an estimated $70 million or more in bricks and mortar to the city. Some of the projects stand a good chance of succeeding, while others could sit on the shelf indefinitely.

Among those destined for reality are city-funded projects like the indoor aquatic center and a new police station headquarters. Both have City Council approval and will be paid for with bond money.

The $11.3 million aquatic center project launched last year after nearly a decade of failed starts and false hopes. Preliminary planning has begun and construction is slated to start later this year.

Also in the works are a new police station located on the site of the former Milam Manufacturing building at Front and Franklin streets. This project - estimated at about $6 million - has been in the works since 2009, but city officials still lack the go-ahead from the federal government. That's because the United States seized the property during a contraband cigarette sting. It promised to give the site to Tupelo, but red tape continues to delay the transfer of property.

Much needed but less immediately viable are the expansion of the Tupelo-Lee County Jail and the construction of a new animal shelter. Lee County supervisors had authorized a jail expansion study four years ago due to chronic crowding in the 202-bed facility.

The study proposed several options for growth, including the addition of one to two more jail pods. Although supervisors and Sheriff Jim Johnson strongly support the plan, they haven't found the funds to proceed. It would cost a minimum of $6 million to expand the jail, the study showed.

The Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation kicked off its own expansion project in April: a 125-seat indoor theater and 75-seat amphitheater with additional parking, picnic area and plans for future growth. About half the $6.3 million cost already has been pledged or raised. When finished, it could double the number of tourists to the Elvis Presley Birthplace off Veterans Boulevard.

Tupelo-Lee Humane Society officials also want a larger facility to house the hundreds of animals they shelter each month. They have long outgrown their current facility on South Gloster Street, a small and outdated building that used to serve as a veterinary clinic.

That pipe dream inched closer to reality last year with the donation of a 2-acre site on Cliff Gookin Boulevard, but the nonprofit agency lacks enough money to build. It has about $500,000 in its capital projects account; a new facility will cost an estimated $3 million, according to Amanda Wallis, president of the TLHS board of directors.

Lee County Library officials seek a new facility, too, with plans to build a new complex behind Hodges Orthodontics in the Fairpark District. It would replace the current facility on Jefferson Street and offer room to expand its computer and technology offerings. But that project still is in its infancy with few funds raised and the site still unsecured. Officials, though, are determined to see it through.

Another project in the Fairpark area, a performing arts center adjacent to the BancorpSouth Arena, got a lot of talk last year but no public mention since then.

Less likely to proceed are plans to convert the old Gravelee Lumber building into an indoor farmers market and artists depot. The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association pitched that idea several years ago but lacked funds to buy the vacant building across the street from its outdoor market.

Also stalled is a dream to move the Oren Dunn Museum from Ballard Park into the old Carnation Milk plant. The museum board recently decided to review that five-year-old idea, but it's unclear if it will keep it on the table, said Parks and Recreation Director Don Lewis.

emily.lecoz@journalinc.com