Another solid stadium to be replaced - Rangers will announce plans for new one

robert terwilliger

the bart, the
Nov 14, 2005
24,059
511
sw florida
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a's fans
 

Terry Yake

Registered User
Aug 5, 2013
26,599
15,008
what the hell is wrong with their current stadium?

looks like a nice, modern park and i've never heard anything bad about it from people who have been there
 

TheMoreYouKnow

Registered User
May 3, 2007
16,385
3,412
38° N 77° W
Well, apparently in a development not foreseeable in the 90s, it turns out the DFW metroplex frequently sees thunderstorms in April-May and it is extremely hot in the summer. So they want a ballpark they can turn into an indoor venue when necessary.
 

AtlantaWhaler

Thrash/Preds/Sabres
Jul 3, 2009
19,583
2,755
I wonder if they're going to do a mixed use property. Surround the new stadium with retail and apartments.
 

Mightygoose

Registered User
Nov 5, 2012
5,586
1,382
Ajax, ON
Would've been nice to have a stadium in Dallas. Arlington looks like a boring suburb.

Looks like it's play from preventing the team from doing that.

Though the timing of the pending announcement may seem early, a new stadium ensures that cities like Dallas will not be able to steal the Rangers from Arlington.

Dallas tried to lure the Rangers from their neighbors in 1988 before Arlington voters agreed to chip in $135 million to build a new stadium next to the old Arlington Stadium.

Apparently it's supposed to go to Arlington voters in the fall. If it's voted down, the aftermath could be fun to follow :popcorn:
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
Ridiculous to see a decent stadium replaced so soon...but...yeah...how didn't they think of this stuff back in the 90s?

The thunderstorms are an annoyance, but the insufferable heat is something that will keep people from going to games.
 

darko

Registered User
Feb 16, 2009
70,265
7,786
I've sat through few baseball games in 40C temperatures with limited shading. It's not fun.
 

nilan30

Registered User
Jan 14, 2004
2,320
983
I wonder if someone could come up with a way to cover a current stadium?
 

Sacha Baron Corbin

Registered User
Jan 19, 2011
12,544
481
This is one of the few cases that I understand wanting a new stadium because of the heat. But why didn't they think of this in 94?
 

garnetpalmetto

Jerkministrator
Jul 12, 2004
12,476
11,841
Durham, NC
This is one of the few cases that I understand wanting a new stadium because of the heat. But why didn't they think of this in 94?

Because you really didn't have retractable roof stadiums at that point in time. Sure you had Skydome but the roof took 20 minutes to open or close and at the time it was the only one - the Kingdome, the Trop (which didn't have a team yet), the Metrodome, and Le Stade Olympique were it when it came to climate controlled parks. You don't get the marriage of neoclassical park to climate controlled/retractable roof until 1998 with Chase Field. And at the time Globe Life was being planned, an open-air Retro Classic stadium was en vogue as a pushback at the multipurpose concrete stadiums of the '70s (especially the infamous troika of Three Rivers, Veterans, and Riverfront). Had it been built in the late '90s it probably would have been a Retro Modern retractable roof facility in line with Chase, Safeco, Minute Maid, and Miller.
 

blueandgoldguy

Registered User
Oct 8, 2010
5,240
2,470
Greg's River Heights
I did a double-take when I saw the price tag - $900 million!:amazed: Split between the city and the ownership. Damn, that is nearly the cost of a new NFL stadium.

If the Expos eventually get a team I guess they will have to slum it in their new $500 million stadium.
 

Brodeur

Registered User
Feb 27, 2002
25,864
15,276
San Diego
I've sat through few baseball games in 40C temperatures with limited shading. It's not fun.

I never thought it would be that bad until I had to do it. Early July game at Yankee Stadium, sitting in the bleachers with no shade. Older lady a few rows behind us fainted and needed medical attention. I guess I'm pretty spoiled here in San Diego with regards to weather. Even when it's hot in August, it's not nearly as hot as LA can get.
 

GKJ

Global Moderator
Feb 27, 2002
185,669
37,463
1994 was 21 years ago. Consider the Vet hosted the Phillies for 32, as did Riverfront Stadium hosting the Reds. Durability was supposed to be one of the appeals to these next-gen stadiums, but the basis of the longevity of everyone's previous stadiums, yeah, it's time to start talking new stadiums.

Now consider that the Braves will have played in Fulton-County longer than they will have in Turner Field (by a lot), which was a stadium that was built for the Olympics and converted for baseball as part of the project. The Expos lasted 27 in their converted stadium. The earliest the Rangers would play a game in a new stadium will be at least that long.
 

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
40,373
16,652
Mulberry Street
1994 was 21 years ago. Consider the Vet hosted the Phillies for 32, as did Riverfront Stadium hosting the Reds. Durability was supposed to be one of the appeals to these next-gen stadiums, but the basis of the longevity of everyone's previous stadiums, yeah, it's time to start talking new stadiums.

Now consider that the Braves will have played in Fulton-County longer than they will have in Turner Field (by a lot), which was a stadium that was built for the Olympics and converted for baseball as part of the project. The Expos lasted 27 in their converted stadium. The earliest the Rangers would play a game in a new stadium will be at least that long.

Its not an issue to whether its still durable, its just the geographical situation.

As for the OP, its a very smart move.Kudos to their fans for going to games in extremely high temperatures but as with Global Warming & climate change, it just gets hotter every year. This year is supposed to be the hottest & dryest summer in 5 years, As the DBacks showed, you really do need a retractable roof Stadium when you are that far South. Good news is they can stilll use the old stadium for anything else baseball related.

Now if Arlington does deny the plan for whatever reason, at least the team will have ample time to find another home. Many options including Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco (their AAA team is there) & Irving. However if they did move to Dallas, I wonder if they'd Miami-Dade them and make then change their name to the Dallas Rangers.

& for all the talk about their lease not being up till 2024, there are many ways around that.
 

TheMoreYouKnow

Registered User
May 3, 2007
16,385
3,412
38° N 77° W
1994 was 21 years ago. Consider the Vet hosted the Phillies for 32, as did Riverfront Stadium hosting the Reds. Durability was supposed to be one of the appeals to these next-gen stadiums, but the basis of the longevity of everyone's previous stadiums, yeah, it's time to start talking new stadiums.

Now consider that the Braves will have played in Fulton-County longer than they will have in Turner Field (by a lot), which was a stadium that was built for the Olympics and converted for baseball as part of the project. The Expos lasted 27 in their converted stadium. The earliest the Rangers would play a game in a new stadium will be at least that long.

The short lifespan of those 60s/70s stadiums was supposedly caused by their bad design though. The new parks were meant to rectify that problem. Also, consider that Fenway and Wrigley have now lasted over 100 years. Tiger Stadium lasted 87 years. Kauffman Stadium in KC is now 43 years old. Yankee Stadium lasted 85 years. It's not like a 30 year lifespan for a stadium is the norm.

The only people who want it to be the norm are team owners/developers who get the public to provide significant funding for massively profitable development schemes.
 

HisIceness

This is Hurricanes Hockey
Sep 16, 2010
40,117
70,063
Charlotte
It looks like the last stadium they played in had absolutely no roof or covering whatsoever so I'm surprised they decided to not bite the bullet and pay the extra $$$ for a roof back in the early-mid 90's. It's not like the DFW region has a shortage of money anyways, I know we all know about Pony Excess
 

Big McLargehuge

Fragile Traveler
May 9, 2002
72,188
7,741
S. Pasadena, CA
The cookie cutters were replaced quickly because they were bad stadiums, not because they had reached the end of their life. RFK Stadium in Washington still acts as a soccer stadium despite being a decade older than most of the other cookie cutters that were replaced ~15 years ago. Parts of the Vet were falling apart, and cracks were all over the place at TRS, but nothing that couldn't have been fixed had anyone had any interest in extending the lives of those monstrosities.

Of course it's at the end of it's life now, but those stadiums had another 20-25 years in them if necessary...they just lacked amenities that newer stadiums had and the fans hated them. Three Rivers could have lasted another 25 years, but the Pirates wouldn't have lasted 25 more years playing in it. That's not going to be the case with any of these, but they're still being replaced for reasons other than the stadium reaching the end of its life-cycle. If not for DC United finally getting approval for a new soccer-specific stadium there was a very real chance that RFK would have outlived it's football replacement (FedEx Field), actually.

I'll be shocked if a PNC Park or AT&T Park don't last at least 60 years. The ones that are getting replaced are the ones that were obsolete within a couple years of opening. Plop this stadium basically anywhere but Florida or Arizona and it'd probably last another 15 years, but the lack of roof killed it and retractable roofs weren't truly figured out by the time The Ballpark in Arlington opened.
 
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