TUPELO - The Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation said Tuesday it has picked a Memphis-based architecture company to design new attractions at the Elvis Presley Birthplace.

Haizlip Studio, dually based in Memphis and Asheville, N.C., has 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 $5.5 million birthplace expansion project includes a theater with a cafe, reception area and an amphitheater. About $2.8 million of the funding is from a $400 million bond package signed earlier this year by Gov. Haley Barbour.

The City Council has agreed to fund the required 20 percent local match, with the hopes that in-kind services and public and private donations will offset its contribution of about $560,000.

The Tupelo Convention and Visitors Bureau is one of those contributors, with $150,000 for the project included in its proposed 2011 budget.

Also, Mayor Jack Reed Jr. told the City Council before it voted that the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation had verbally committed to raising $100,000 of the match.

"This is a very exciting time for the birthplace," said Dick Guyton, executive director of Elvis Presley Birthplace. "Our vision is to grow the number and variety of attractions at the Birthplace to enhance the experience of our guests. "

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

The new multipurpose theater and event space is the first of several expansions to the birthplace. Completion of Phase One, which includes the theater, is targeted for late 2011.

Emily Le Coz contributed to this story. Contact Carlie Kollath at (662) 678-1598 or carlie.kollath@djournal.com.