Texas Stadium
From NFL Wiki
| Texas Stadium | |
|---|---|
| File:TexStadLogo.gif File:Texas Stadiuminterior.jpg | |
| Location | 2401 East Airport Freeway Irving, Texas 75062 |
| Opened | October 24, 1971 |
| Owner | City of Irving |
| Operator | Texas Stadium Corp |
| Surface | Artificial Turf |
| Construction cost | $35 million USD |
| Tenants | Dallas Cowboys (NFL) (1971-2008) Dallas Tornado (NASL) (1972-1975, 1980-1981) SMU Mustangs (NCAA) (1979-1986) |
| Capacity | 65,675 |
Texas Stadium is a football stadium in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. It is the home field of the NFL's Dallas Cowboys, and has a seating capacity of 65,675. The stadium opened on October 24, 1971, at a cost of $35 million.
Contents |
[edit] Construction
Built to replace the aging Cotton Bowl as the Cowboys' home field, the stadium was designed with a unique open roof design, which resulted in most of the stands being enclosed but not the playing field itself. This unusual arrangement—more commonly seen in European soccer stadiums—prompted Cowboys linebacker D. D. Lewis to make his now-famous quip that the "hole" in the stadium's roof was there "so that God can watch his favorite team."
[edit] Playing surface
The playing surface installed in 1971 officially was labeled Texas Turf, and was a form of AstroTurf. The original surface was replaced in 1981 and that generation of Texas Turf was replaced in 1996 with a much darker turf. The 1981-96 version was notable for having a large patch between the 35 and 40 yard line from the sideline to the middle of the field on one side of the field. The 1996 turf was replaced by a somewhat softer surface called RealGrass, similar to FieldTurf, in the middle of the 2002 season. It is now tufted nylon 6.
[edit] Non-Cowboys related events hosted
The stadium hosts neutral-site college football games and was formerly was the home field of the SMU Mustangs from 1979 to 1986. After the school returned from an NCAA-imposed suspension in 1988, school officials moved games back to the school's on-campus Ownby Stadium in order to signify a clean start for the football program (it has since been replaced by Gerald J. Ford Stadium).
In November and December, Texas Stadium is a major venue for high school football. It is not uncommon for there to be high school football tripleheaders at the stadium. Texas Stadium has served as a temporary home for two Dallas-area high schools, Plano Senior High School in 1979 after its home stadium was damaged by a prank gone awry, and Highland Park High School while a new stadium on campus was being built. The 2001 Big 12 conference championship game was held at the site, as well as the 1973 Pro Bowl.
In addition to football, the stadium has hosted concerts, pro wrestling events, and religious gatherings such as Promise Keepers and Billy Graham crusades (a Graham crusade was the first event held at Texas Stadium). The two "bridges" that are connected to one of the support arms are called "Garth Bars". They were installed for a Garth Brooks concert so he could fly above the crowd and have remained ever since.
From 1984 until 1988, the stadium hosted the annual World Class Championship Wrestling's David Von Erich Memorial Parade of Champions wrestling card every May. The initial 1984 card drew over 40,000 fans; the highest attendance of any wrestling card in the state of Texas at that time.
On May 25th, 2008 Texas Stadium hosted the first ever professional lacrosse game in Texas when the two time defending champions Philadelphia Barrage play the Long Island Lizards. Both teams compete in the Eastern Conference of the Major League Lacrosse[1].
[edit] The Cowboys' departure from Texas Stadium
The Cowboys will leave Texas Stadium after the 2008 NFL season for the new Cowboys Stadium which will open for the 2009 NFL season; that will be partially funded by taxpayers in Arlington, Texas. In November 2004, Arlington voters approved a half-cent (.005 per US Dollar) sales tax to fund $325 million of the then estimated $650 million stadium by a margin of 55-45. Jerry Jones, the Cowboys' owner, spent over $5 million backing the ballot measure, but also agreed to cover any cost overruns which as of 2006 had already raised the estimated cost of the project to $1 billion.
The fate of Texas Stadium after the Cowboys' departure remains uncertain. The roof, whose worn paint had become unsightly in the early 2000s, was repainted in the summer of 2006 by the City of Irving. It was the first time the famed roof was repainted since Texas Stadium opened. The roof is structurally independent from the stadium it covers. As a tribute to the original Texas Stadium, the new stadium, which will have a retractable roof system, will also include a setting that mimics the hole in the roof.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- http://www.california.com/~csuppes/NFL/DallasCowboys/index.htm includes a photo giving a good impression of the scale of the stadium.
- http://www.crossroadsdfw.com shows potential redevelopment plans for the stadium after the Cowboys leave, including possible preservation of the roof by itself.
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