Globe Life Park Transformation From Baseball To Football, Soccer Stadium Begins
ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Arlington's Globe Life Park begins its reconfiguration from a baseball to a multi-purpose facility this week.
The facility, which the Texas Rangers called home for 26 seasons, welcomes two new tenants in 2020; the Dallas Renegades of the new XFL spring league and North Texas Soccer Club of the USL League One which is affiliated with FC Dallas of Major League Soccer.
The Texas Rangers begin playing across the street in Globe Life Field, with a retractable roof, in March 2020.
THE NEW FIELD: The football field and soccer pitch will be built to run north and south along what was previously the first base/right field side of the park. The third base dugout and the lower 18 rows of the third base seating bowl (approximately 6,000 total seats) will be removed to accommodate the north end of the field. The south end zone of the field will begin approximately 50 feet out from the front row of the Home Run Porch in order to improve sightlines on the south side.
The first base dugout will remain with the tunnel to be used for access to the home locker rooms. A tunnel will be constructed in the north end zone for access to the visiting and officials locker rooms.
FIELD SURFACE: The playing surface will be a synthetic grass field provided by Shaw Sports Turf with installation completed by Paragon Sports Constructors. The Rangers are also utilizing a state-of the art synthetic grass field in the new Globe Life Field. The permanent field surface will be unmarked to allow for seamless field conversion. The appropriate field lines will be added for each event.
ADDITIONAL SEATING: While the current first base bowl will provide the majority of the seating on the west side of the field, a permanent seating structure will be constructed on the field's east side in the area that was previously left field, the visiting bullpen, and the left field reserved seating area. Approximately 4,000 seats will be added below the left field club level. The new configuration will provide access to rest rooms and concessions on Vandergriff Plaza.
OTHER SEATING BOWL RENOVATIONS: A television booth as well as home and visiting coaches' booths will be constructed in the lower suite level at the mid-field location. The current press box will be utilized to accommodate all other media, broadcasting, and scoreboard operations for football and soccer events. Bench seating to accommodate bands attending football events will be installed in the current bowl down the left field and right field lines.
LOCKER ROOMS: The Texas Rangers clubhouse on the first base side will be renovated to accommodate the Dallas Renegades. This will include the addition of lockers to accommodate approximately 60 players in the main dressing area. Head coach Bob Stoops and the Renegades football staff will office in this location as well. The current visiting clubhouse on the third base side will be the visiting football locker room with lockers being added to this area.
In addition, two new auxiliary locker rooms are being built in the area that previously housed the Rangers' and visiting batting cages. Each locker room will accommodate up to 80 players and will have coaches' offices and shower facilities. This will allow for the hosting of multiple events and teams on the same day.
SBL Architecture of Arlington, which has its offices at Globe Life Park and has been involved in many of the facility's renovations over the years, designed the reconfiguration of the park. The project's general contractor is Manhattan Construction, which built The Ballpark in Arlington in the early 1990's and is currently constructing the new Globe Life Field.
The Globe Life Park in Arlington reconfiguration is beginning this week with the removal of the baseball playing field and seats in the right field corner, along the third base line, in the left field corner, and in the left field reserved areas.
In addition, the modules on the upper left field video board have been removed as these will be utilized for the out-of-town scoreboard located in centerfield in the new Globe Life Field.
Work on Globe Life Park is expected to be complete by early 2020.
The Renegades season begins in early February with North Texas Soccer Club starting its schedule in March.
Meantime, a limited number of Globe Life Park in Arlington seats that are being removed for the facility's reconfiguration will available for sale while supplies last. The seats will be sold as pairs only and will be available as follows:
2019 full season ticket and suite holders can order a pair of seats for $500.00 a pair between Friday, October 18 at 9:00 a.m. and Tuesday, October 22 at 9:00 p.m.
2019 partial plan season ticket holders can order a pair of seats for $500.00 a pair between Wednesday, October 23 at 9:00 a.m. and Friday, October 25 at 9:00 p.m.
Remaining inventory of the seats will be available for sale to the general public at $600 for a pair of seats beginning on Saturday, October 26 at 9:00 a.m.
All pairs of seats will be sold as non-location specific. Due to the limited number of seats available, it is possible that some orders may not be able to be fulfilled. To order seats, contact authentics@texasrangers.com.
