The Texas Rangers recently hosted a Q&A for fans about construction of the $1.1 billion, retractable-roof Globe Life Field in Arlington.
Rob Matwick, Texas Rangers vice president of business operations, and Jack Hill, senior vice president of project development, answered all the questions surrounding the construction of the ballpark, which is set to open just south of the current Globe Life Park in 2020. The ballpark, which will have approximately 40,000 seats, will include a retractable roof for climate control and shelter for fans during the hot summer months.
Here's a recap of those questions:
Q: Is excavation still going on?
A: Excavation is pretty much complete. You'll see a dirt pile, but they are going to use that back into the site. There will be more truck loads removed from Texas Live!, but the majority of excavation was completed earlier this year.
Q: When will we see progress at ground level?
A: In a little less than a month you'll start to see some steel columns going up.
Q: How many people are working on Globe Life Field?
A: On site we have about 500 workers, today. Those numbers will grow as construction progresses, growing toward 1,500 workers on-site.
Q: Will the stadium feel open, even when the roof is closed?
A: The stadium will feel very open. You can tell from the renderings how much glass is anticipated at the ballpark. There is a glass-like panel in the top of the roof. One thing that we think will differentiate this stadium from a lot of others is how open it's going to feel.
Q: Do you have pricing set for Globe Life Field?
A: We're working on pricing. I can't say that they're set at this stage, but they're in progress. With baseball, and 81 games, we understand that we need to be affordable for everyone. Families are still very important to us, bring your wife, kids, your friends, your neighbors, that's still a very important part of what we do and we're committed to making sure that we have affordable prices for everyone.
Q: Will there be an opportunity ahead of time to pick our seats?
A: As season ticket holders, yes. You will have priority to choose your seats.
Q: Will Globe Life Field be able to host events other than Rangers baseball games?
A: Another advantage to having a roof and being able to control climate is that it will make the building useful 365 days a year. Obviously Rangers baseball is first and foremost, but when the field isn't being used for baseball, we certainly want to use it for other things such as public events, meetings, conventions and trade shows.
Q: What is going to happen to the current ballpark, Globe Life Park?
A: We're entertaining a few ideas. You probably saw in the paper that we were one of the few North Texas sites for consideration by Amazon. We actually hosted Amazon here in February. The city put on a great presentation, unfortunately it didn't go our way, but there are several great sites in Dallas-Fort Worth left. I think it sort of proved to us that there are opportunities either for a corporate relocation, or some other activation with the field space. We've said throughout, since 2016, the building will remain. We love this facade.
Fans can visit the Hilti Observation Deck during any Rangers Home Game. The Hilti Observation Deck is located on the upper right field concourse, behind section 341.
Click here to learn more about the future Globe Life Field.
Ballpark Project, Entertainment District, Texas Rangers
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