National sports headlines from the last several days might be dominated by the NFL and kneeling during the national anthem but, here in North Texas, all eyes are on Arlington.
The city of Arlington and the Texas Rangers will break ground Thursday on their new 41,000-seat stadium named Globe Life Field. The Rangers will start playing at the new field after it’s completed in 2020.
When designer HKS released the first renderings of the new stadium in January, the details of the stadium’s defining feature—the retractable roof—remained largely a mystery. Now, the world is getting its first good look.
HKS’s previous credits include the Rangers’ current stadium (called Globe Life Park), AT&T Stadium, and stadiums at Texas Christian University, the University of North Texas, and the University of Texas at Arlington.
Earlier this month, Atlanta-based SunTrust Banks was named the financier of $600 million of the stadium’s budget. Globe Life Field is a public-private partnership with the baseball team and the city. Arlington voters agreed to foot half the bill for the stadium in a November 2016 vote, but the city’s funds are capped at $500 million.
SunTrust has a history of providing construction financing for stadiums, including the Atlanta Braves’ SunTrust Park and Atlanta Falcons’ Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Next door to the future stadium, a 200,000-square-foot mixed-use development called Texas Live! will bring restaurants, bars, a hotel and entertainment options. Texas Live! will open in 2018.
