And this is just bizarre:
In an letter released Sunday on WFAA/Channel 8 Inside Texas Politics, Rangers managing partner Ray Davis said the team is working with the Baltimore-based Cordish Cos. to develop retail shops along the Randol Mill Road side of Globe Life Park: “It is the Rangers’ intent to preserve the beautiful exterior facade.”
So if the Texas Rangers owners get more than half a billion dollars in public money to replace their 22-year-old stadium with a new stadium so they can have air conditioning, they’re going to keep the old, un-air-conditioned building around to use as … shops? Or part of the building? And the field could be “refitted for another purpose” somehow? Possibly as “park and festival spaces”?
This is all extremely strange, since it’s unlikely anyone cares much about the Rangers stadium’s facade, unless this is meant to win people over with a “Hey, we’re not tearing down a perfectly good 22-year-old stadium, we’re just gutting it to use it for something it wasn’t meant for instead of for baseball!” Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams also said the city could collect rent on any retail space leased out at the old stadium, which maybe could help offset construction costs, yes — but then, nobody’s saying how much it would cost to gut and redevelop the existing stadium, so who knows if there would actually be a net gain?
Supposedly there’s going to be a press conference about all this tomorrow, so we can boggle some more then. Stay tuned.
Voters of Arlington deserve what they get if they approve this deal. They are only fooling themselves if this deal is good for anyone but the Rangers. Screw the small businesses who invested in this area years ago but are forced out of business through restrictive covenants. Does DFW really need more shopping? What store isn’t represented 10x over in this area? There are major malls 5-10 miles in each direction. Will this be another “destination” that politicians BS people with?
Have no idea how desirable this would be in that location, but maybe do what Arsenal did: turn an old stadium into residential. Now, there might be a million bad reasons for doing that in Arlington. And feel free to chime in with them as I know little to nothing about the housing market in Arlington, nor the desirability of living sandwiched between a new baseball park and Cowboys stadium and what might be parkland.
But hey, if you’re a season ticket holder, at least you’ll save a ton on parking costs. Plus, prima facie, no dumber than making yet another mall in North Texas.
Perhaps move back all the residence displaced by the cowboys stadium?
I bet if they threw enough money at them, they could lure the Round Rock Express to play in the decrepit old stadium… air conditioning or not.
Solid plan. Spend millions trying to turn an old stadium into shops then in a couple years still tear it all down when it turns out not to be feasible. I bet there will be some clause that will pay the Rangers for any inconveniences during the renovation and demolition.
Or who knows… Evil genius plan: the Rangers will be able to get a third new stadium because the demolition of the first new stadium made the second new stadium unusable.
This is clearly an attempt to defuse the opposition who named their effort “Save our Stadium”. There is only a press release and “intent” behind the statement so who knows what will really happen.
http://www.citizens4abetterarlington.com/save-our-stadium
It’s TWENTY TWO YEARS OLD?!?!
Good lord, how have they survived in such an ancient facility for the last 15 or so years? I would have been jacking up (or buying off) local pols much earlier in the process.
But hey, that’s just little old me!