Rangers, City Of Arlington Plan To Build Billion-Dollar Retractable Roof Stadium
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ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams says a new billion-dollar proposed climate-controlled stadium deal will keep the Texas Rangers in Arlington at least through 2054.
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Half of the money for the new stadium would come from the city, the other half from the Rangers.
Arlington taxpayers would have to approve sales, parking, and ticket taxes to dedicate to construction and they'll get to vote on the measure on November 8.
"This is going to pass. No doubt," said Mayor Williams during a Friday afternoon news conference with Texas Rangers owner Ray Davis.
Davis says if approved, the new stadium will open April 2021.
It would be built on what are now parking lots A and B.
Davis says he likes a brick stadium but the Rangers will be taking input from the community. He says he wants the new stadium to retain a "classic ballpark look" like the existing stadium.
The Rangers' owner says he hopes to attract the MLB All-Star Game and big concerts with the new stadium.
From an economic standpoint, Arlington's Mayor calls the deal a home run.
"From 2016 to 2054, this will mean $2.53 billion for the city of Arlington," says Mayor Williams. "This is a phenomenal impact that we're going to have with this project."
The City and the Rangers are discussing the future of Globe Life Park with options including office development, park space, parking and a possible extension to the Texas Live! project.
Globe Life Park opened as the Ballpark in Arlington in 1994.
In 1991, voters approved a half-cent sales tax to help construct the Texas Rangers' current home. That sales tax went away after the City's $135 million debt on the ballpark was paid off in 2001, a decade earlier than scheduled.
Then in 2004, voters approved a half-cent sales tax, a 5 percent car rental tax and a 2 percent hotel occupancy tax (venue taxes) to help publicly finance the Dallas Cowboys' $1.2 billion AT&T Stadium.
The city says its stadium debt is scheduled to be paid off in 2028 but is projected to be paid off at a faster pace.
CBS11 asked Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings about the big Rangers announcement in Arlington.
"We have decided in the City of Dallas that we're going to spend our money in nature, because it is nature that's going to drive our quality of life," said Mayor Rawlings.
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