The Dallas Cowboys say they’ll be in their new Frisco headquarters and practice facility by 2016 after breaking ground next year. For decades, games, headquarters and practices were in Irving. Then games moved to their new, billion dollar-plus Arlington stadium in 2009. What’s the future looking like for Frisco and Irving?
The Cowboys made the openly-rumored move north to Frisco official Tuesday. The $115 million indoor facility will be funded by Frisco schools and other city entities. And Frisco high schools can use the stadium and outdoor fields when the Cowboys don’t need them. Team owner Jerry Jones says the complex and new headquarters will be state-of-the-art, reflecting well on the city and the team’s commitment to kids.
“There’s no road map here. This will be a first in sports. To ever tie in so visibly, firmly with your educational system, your high school system, this’ll be a first.“
Jones says he made the move with the future in mind.
“What my job is is to help make a decision about getting up here to Frisco and carrying this ball forward for the next umpteen years with the Dallas Cowboys here.”
Happy days in Frisco however are the opposite for Cowboys fans in Irving’s Valley Ranch, the home of the Cowboys for decades. Randy Smith is a mechanic at a service station near the current headquarters.
“It kind of sucks, they keep moving everywhere,” said Smith. “They moved to Arlington, now the training camp. And you know, it’s like Irving’s not a Cowboy place anymore. It’s a slap in the face to all of us.”
But they won’t move for another three years. In the meantime, Irving officials say Cowboys headquarters could be turned into a retail or residential development, or even a space for a new charter school.
