zrinkill
Cowboy Fan
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Jerry Jones could have just renovated Texas Stadium. Or he could have built the Dallas Cowboys a nice, new place for about US$650 million.
Then Jones really thought about it.
With only one chance to do something like this, he didn't want just another stadium.
He wanted one of the biggest and the absolute best, something that would establish a new category of sports venues, like the Astrodome did decades ago and, in his wildest dreams, the way Rome's Colosseum did centuries before.
Nearly $1.2 billion later, Jones believes he might have done it.
"This," he says, "is the real deal." Cowboys Stadium is a masterpiece of architecture and engineering, a facility that manages to be tricked-out without feeling like an amusement park, overwhelmingly big without making visitors feel swallowed.
The list of features is a roll call of first-this and biggest-that. The most stunning are the video boards, a pair of high-definition screens that run from 20-yard line to 20-yard line and are 25 yards tall, each the equivalent of more than 2,000 52-inch TVs.
Other highlights include a retractable roof and retractable walls on both ends; bars that seem plucked from five-star hotels; museum-calibre artwork; field-level suites with patios practically bumping into the sidelines; a club player can walk through from the locker room to the field; and mingling areas for tens of thousands of fans who buy a $29 "party pass" instead of a regular ticket.
Since the doors opened two months ago, visitors have walked in expecting the grandest thing they've ever seen. For many, it still exceeds expectations.
"I wanted to be wowed and awed by it, and I'm totally wowed and totally awed by it," longtime Cowboys star Drew Pearson said during his first visit. "It makes me wish I could turn the clock back a little bit, lace up the cleats and strap on the hat."
The ultimate proof of this building's elite status is the list of events it has lured without its namesake tenant even taking the field.
The NBA all-star game is coming in February, the Super Bowl in 2011 and the Final Four in 2014. All sorts of in-season college football games are scheduled, including a Notre Dame home game in 2013. The Big 12 will hold its next two football championship games here and is considering making it the permanent site. The Cotton Bowl already has moved in --literally, as its headquarters are right behind the broadcast booths -- and organizers hope the new address will help land the New Year's Day game a spot in the BCS.
Futbol is a big part of the stadium's plans, too. A special layer of turf was put in for a soccer pitch and an international tournament had the honour of being the stadium's first sports event. Don't be surprised if this place becomes the centrepiece of a U. S. bid to host the World Cup.
But the stadium isn't merely a ballpark, a point emphasized by the first event being a concert. And not just any concert, it was an unprecedented double-bill for the king and queen of country music, George Strait and Reba McEntire. The Jonas Brothers kicked off their current tour here, Paul McCartney was playing Wednesday night, and U2 is coming next month.
Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and the Cowboys will get their turn Friday night in a pre-season game against the Tennessee Titans. Fox is broadcasting it nationally, certain to make the building the star of the show.
"I had heard everybody saying it's big and da-da, da-da," receiver Roy Williams. "Then (I) finally saw it with my own eyes and it's the greatest thing on earth."
The Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home their first 11 1 /2 seasons, then moved to Texas Stadium in suburban Irving in 1971. The new building cost $35 million, a whopping sum at the time, and was considered a state-of-the-art marvel. It was packed with luxury suites and a hole in the roof "so God could watch his team," according to lore. Players sure responded to the upgrade, winning their first Super Bowl that season.
Jones took over in '89, knowing all along the lease would expire early in the 21st century. He started thinking about it more seriously as the millennium approached.
Fixing up Texas Stadium was eliminated pretty quickly. He looked into moving back to Dallas, but city leaders never took the idea to voters. He wound up being wooed by the folks in Arlington, already home to the Texas Rangers and Six Flags theme park.
In November 2004, Arlington voters approved a hike in sales tax to raise $325 million, supposedly half of the stadium's price tag, with Jones vowing to cover the rest, no matter how much that was. It didn't take long for the tab to jump to $1 billion, then it kept going. From the groundbreaking in April 2006 to the ribbon-cutting in May, Jones spent the equivalent of about $1 million per day.
"It never started with, `Let's just take a dollar amount and multiply it times 30 per cent,"' Jones told The Associated Press during a recent stadium tour. "It basically began with, `What can we do to make this special? And what would it be to make it noteworthy?' And then the decision was, 'Well, is that something we want to expand what we're spending to get?' And, in many cases, it was."
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1707604
.
.
.
.
Then Jones really thought about it.
With only one chance to do something like this, he didn't want just another stadium.
He wanted one of the biggest and the absolute best, something that would establish a new category of sports venues, like the Astrodome did decades ago and, in his wildest dreams, the way Rome's Colosseum did centuries before.
Nearly $1.2 billion later, Jones believes he might have done it.
"This," he says, "is the real deal." Cowboys Stadium is a masterpiece of architecture and engineering, a facility that manages to be tricked-out without feeling like an amusement park, overwhelmingly big without making visitors feel swallowed.
The list of features is a roll call of first-this and biggest-that. The most stunning are the video boards, a pair of high-definition screens that run from 20-yard line to 20-yard line and are 25 yards tall, each the equivalent of more than 2,000 52-inch TVs.
Other highlights include a retractable roof and retractable walls on both ends; bars that seem plucked from five-star hotels; museum-calibre artwork; field-level suites with patios practically bumping into the sidelines; a club player can walk through from the locker room to the field; and mingling areas for tens of thousands of fans who buy a $29 "party pass" instead of a regular ticket.
Since the doors opened two months ago, visitors have walked in expecting the grandest thing they've ever seen. For many, it still exceeds expectations.
"I wanted to be wowed and awed by it, and I'm totally wowed and totally awed by it," longtime Cowboys star Drew Pearson said during his first visit. "It makes me wish I could turn the clock back a little bit, lace up the cleats and strap on the hat."
The ultimate proof of this building's elite status is the list of events it has lured without its namesake tenant even taking the field.
The NBA all-star game is coming in February, the Super Bowl in 2011 and the Final Four in 2014. All sorts of in-season college football games are scheduled, including a Notre Dame home game in 2013. The Big 12 will hold its next two football championship games here and is considering making it the permanent site. The Cotton Bowl already has moved in --literally, as its headquarters are right behind the broadcast booths -- and organizers hope the new address will help land the New Year's Day game a spot in the BCS.
Futbol is a big part of the stadium's plans, too. A special layer of turf was put in for a soccer pitch and an international tournament had the honour of being the stadium's first sports event. Don't be surprised if this place becomes the centrepiece of a U. S. bid to host the World Cup.
But the stadium isn't merely a ballpark, a point emphasized by the first event being a concert. And not just any concert, it was an unprecedented double-bill for the king and queen of country music, George Strait and Reba McEntire. The Jonas Brothers kicked off their current tour here, Paul McCartney was playing Wednesday night, and U2 is coming next month.
Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware and the Cowboys will get their turn Friday night in a pre-season game against the Tennessee Titans. Fox is broadcasting it nationally, certain to make the building the star of the show.
"I had heard everybody saying it's big and da-da, da-da," receiver Roy Williams. "Then (I) finally saw it with my own eyes and it's the greatest thing on earth."
The Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home their first 11 1 /2 seasons, then moved to Texas Stadium in suburban Irving in 1971. The new building cost $35 million, a whopping sum at the time, and was considered a state-of-the-art marvel. It was packed with luxury suites and a hole in the roof "so God could watch his team," according to lore. Players sure responded to the upgrade, winning their first Super Bowl that season.
Jones took over in '89, knowing all along the lease would expire early in the 21st century. He started thinking about it more seriously as the millennium approached.
Fixing up Texas Stadium was eliminated pretty quickly. He looked into moving back to Dallas, but city leaders never took the idea to voters. He wound up being wooed by the folks in Arlington, already home to the Texas Rangers and Six Flags theme park.
In November 2004, Arlington voters approved a hike in sales tax to raise $325 million, supposedly half of the stadium's price tag, with Jones vowing to cover the rest, no matter how much that was. It didn't take long for the tab to jump to $1 billion, then it kept going. From the groundbreaking in April 2006 to the ribbon-cutting in May, Jones spent the equivalent of about $1 million per day.
"It never started with, `Let's just take a dollar amount and multiply it times 30 per cent,"' Jones told The Associated Press during a recent stadium tour. "It basically began with, `What can we do to make this special? And what would it be to make it noteworthy?' And then the decision was, 'Well, is that something we want to expand what we're spending to get?' And, in many cases, it was."
http://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1707604
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.
.
.
That's the best description I've heard so far. (but you forgot art gallery) I love it, and though I do miss Texas Stadium and feel bad when driving past it now and then, it really was time to move on. The new home is all you've heard about it and much more.
