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First phase of Cotton Bowl's $140M reconstruction complete

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Published  September 20, 2024 5:20pm CDT
Fair Park
FOX 4

Phase 1 of Cotton Bowl reconstruction complete

Phase One of construction at the Cotton Bowl is complete after a $140 million investment by the City of Dallas, the largest in the history of Fair Park.

The Brief

    • The first phase of the $140 million reconstruction of the Cotton Bowl has been finished.
    • Phase One included upgrades to the press box and suites.
    • The second phase, which will widen the concourse and modernize restrooms and concessions, is expected to be completed before the 2025 State Fair.

DALLAS - Phase One of construction at the Cotton Bowl is complete after a $140 million investment by the City of Dallas, the largest in the history of Fair Park.

The first phase wrapped up on time and on budget at $70 million, officially marking the halfway point.

The facelift for the historic stadium, which was originally built in the 1920s, includes changes to the suites.

"What we did is take 3 suites and made 2 suites out of them so they are much larger," said John Hutchings, the Senior Principal at Overland. "17 guests in this suite can enjoy the game with air conditioning in comfort."

The suites can also still let the crowd atmosphere in, if the weather is right. The windows in the boxes can open.

Bryan Trubey, another senior principal at Overland, says the suites and press boxes are important because they make the Cotton Bowl a competitive venue.

"Three-sided glass for press box, improvements to suites, seventh level. Next yeae we will make improvements to the fifth and sixth level, where we will add suites and a club level. The Cotton Bowl has really never had any premium seating environments," said Trubey. "That is a great investment to bring other events."

Trubey says there is no other venue in the country that can do for 90,000 fans what the Cotton Bowl can.

"I think the thing that the fans will be most excited about is all the things they love will still be here. In other words, the intimacy of the Cotton Bowl," he said. "There is really not a stadium in the country that gets that many people that close to the field."

For fans, the most visible improvements are still one year out.

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The foundations and infrastructure are now laid, so that after the State Fair of Texas, work will resume on doubling the width of the concourse and modernizing the restrooms and concessions.

Getting to your seat will also be faster. Fans will be able to go directly to their concourse on stairs and escalators.

Equally important is what is staying the same.

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The Cotton Bowl facade, added in 1948, will also get an upgrade.

The construction deadline for the entire project is just before the 2025 State Fair of Texas.

Practice games for the 2026 World Cup are also slated to be held at the stadium.

The Source

  • Information in this article comes from architecture group Overland Partners and the City of Dallas.