Was anyone else as (happily) shocked to see the DMN headline that the Cowboys are considering Fair Park as a site for the new stadium after Mayor Miller voiced opposition to the industrial blvd site due to 200MM infrastructure redevelopment cost there.

I always figured Fair Park was just a pipe dream since it would not offer dearest Jerry his billion dollar (taxpayer funded) development dream. Although I am a huge Cowboys fan, I have long said that short of the Cowboys paying for nearly everything (yeah right), I will vote against any other plan that did not include replacing the Cotton Bowl.

Maybe, just maybe the powers that be can negotiate something that is good for everyone, not just the people whose pockets are already lined full.

Any other sentiment?

It would be the answers to my prayers for the past three decades! The first Cowboys game I ever witnessed was at the Cotton Bowl with my Dad (I was 8 years old).

Theyd definitely have to do some "redevelopment" in that part of town. More like making half the residents move to Oak Cliff since its not the most affluent neighborhood. So who would win out? Corporate development and Jerry Jones. Who would lose? The low income neighbors.

DallasUNC is right.That area is not exactly "Beverly Hills." LOL. I have been to the Cotton Bowl and major renovations would need to be done, and people in the surrounding community WOULD need to be relocated. It would not be good P.R. for the city having the football fans assaulted by crack mothers and street beggars. From what I have been told about the Cotton Bowl, I heard it was a first rate stadium in its heyday, but rift raft, drug dealers and other low-lifes moved into the neighborhoods near Fair Park making the area seedy.

I was born in Dallas. I never did understand why they built the stadium for the Cowboys out in Irving when they did. The owners of TheCowboys had a chance to refurbish the Cotton Bowl then. That part of Dallas has always suffered from a kind of benign neglect. What they shoud do is offer the residents fair value for their property and use the new stadium to revitalize the community. I remember growing up in Dallas and going to the Cotton Bowl for Texas v. OU and the State Fair and my grandmother lived in that community for many years until she died about fifteen years ago. Fair Park and the Cotton Bowl are part of my childhood

I would be interested to know how long it has been since anyone has ventured down to Fair Park. I built a 400K townhouse just two miles from FP outside of Deep Ellum when the whole area redevelopment was steaming along 3 years ago. Of course that slowed when the economy hit the skids for the last couple of years but there are finally signs of new construction, real estate sales and zoning requests to suggest that it is picking up steam again.

Actually, North and West of the park has and is continuing to undergo redevelopment. Outside of a couple of small neighborhoods, south of the park is mostly warehousing and could be left alone. The east side of the park (generally where the Cotton Bowl sits)is where they need to buy out the residents/businesses and burn it all to the ground. That could offer opportunity for a scaled down real estate project for Jerry while the 2nd Avenue entertainment district (part of the city master plan) could continue be developed on the NE side as an extension of Deep Ellum. If I remember correctly also, the DART line to FP is supposed to be completed in 2007.

I often take my nieces and nephew down to the museums and IMAX theatre and I've never had any problems. I'm actually surprised how many people are there on Saturday/Sunday even when no major events are happening. In one of the DMN articles last week, they noted that an antiques show was at one of the exhibition buildings and drew 70,000 people on a Saturday. Can you imagine the draw if there was NFL/College football and major entertainment throughout the year?

BobDallas....you must not be a big theatre goer....the Music Hall at Fair Park still boasts one of the busiest stages in town...I know the touring company of Chicago is playing there this month and when companies with big productions that need big stages hit town (like Miss Saigon, etc) they always set up house at the Fair Park venue...this place alone brings the society "cash" in and out of Fair Park on the weekends as well as many weeknights....

I've been down there several times in the past year to the Music Hall. There's a lot of new commercial development along the south side of Fair Park. Utilizing the infrastructure already in place at Fair Park would save around $200M for the Cowboys project.

I saw a snippet on the news tonight that there's 177 acres currently available at Fair Park and plenty more to purchase along the northeast side if needed for the Cowboys' new stadium. They are not talking about the actual Cotton Bowl site, but the new stadium would be perfect for the annual Texas/OU game during the State Fair and future Cotton Bowls. DART rail will be there soon and they said they already have the capacity to move 100,000 in and out of the area as it is now.

The Cotton Bowl game needs to get back in the Tier 1 Bowls and host the National Championship on a rotational basis. With talk of expanding the BCS it's quite possible. Of course, a new stadium will bring Dallas a Super Bowl sometime in the future with the retractable roof. I'm stoked if this happens!

NFLJockGuy,


Oh I agree wholeheartedly about the music hall...I was just referring to what a new stadium could bring in. I certainly didn't mean to exclude DSM or other MH events. those were just givens and in the best and worst times over the last decade+ at FP, that venue has always been consistent. The Music Hall, Starplex (or Smirnoff or whatever it is called this week)and a stadium would provide three great venues to handle events of all types and sizes.

Wow! Nice Cowboys Stadium.

***From the 5/20/07 article on the website

***From the 5/22/07 article on the website.

Even though Texas Stadium won't be there in a few years, it's still the site for my hopes and dreams....American Idol auditions !

Wow! If I was a Cowboys fan I certainly wouldn't be able to afford any luxury suites. Outrageous!

A lil glitch @ the new stadium.

...I say move it up! Duh!

I heard on the radio that to park in the closest parking lots it costs...SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS!

It's a shrine to the enormous ego of Jerry Jones.

True on both accounts.

I know it's not a rule but something tells me that when stadiums are built, what may or may not be in the area (field) of play should be looked at in advance by the NFLfor approval, so that this type of situation can't have an effect on the game.

The NFL's response to the glitch. I think you're right pr, there needs to be guidelines set by the NFL about future stadiums being built. Personally, I ques whether the NFL should/could have forced that the video board be raised.

Actually it was. 85 feet is the NFL requirement, the video board is 90 feet high. I'm not a Jerry Jones fan, but like it or not, he did nothing wrong (technically).

The board is so HUGE, I actually got a little nauseous looking at it.....same thing happens to me at the IMAX theatres (which is a bummer).