Dallas Cowboys New Stadium Information
Address
900 E Randol Mill Rd.
Arlington, TX 76011
Site:
• The Cowboys Stadium site covers 73 total acres; the overall site encompasses 140 total
acres
• The stadium is 3 million square feet containing 104 cubic feet of volume
• Stadium length – 900 feet from one end zone retractable wall to the opposite end zone
retractable wall
Exterior Façade:
• Canted 800-foot glass wall exterior
− slopes at 14-degree angle
− 86-foot-high glazing (glass) system
• Lens (clerestory)
− 33 feet at highest point with overall length of 904 feet
• Arches soar 292 feet above playing field
− Each boxed arch is 17 feet wide and 35 feet deep
− Each arch weighs 3,255 tons
− Each arch spans quarter-mile in length
−Top of steel at the highpoint of the main arched trusses is 292 feet above the playing
field.
• Retractable end zone doors
− The 180-foot-wide by 120-foot-high operable glass doors, located at each end of the
stadium, are the largest operable glass doors in the world
− Five 38-foot panels take 18 minutes to open or close
• Roof and Roof Structure
− At 660,800 square feet, the stadium’s roof is one of the largest domed sports
structures in the world
− Soaring 292 feet above the playing field, the two monumental arches support the
retractable roof – the world’s longest single-span roof structure
− Encompasses 104 million cubic feet of volume
− Opening 410 feet long by 256 feet wide encompassing 105,000 square feet
− Each panel weighs 1.68 million pounds
− The travel distance of each panel is 215 feet
− Consists of 14,100 tons of structural steel (which is equivalent to the weight of 92
Boeing 777s)
−Opens or closes in 12 minutes
−Materials:
− non-operable pieces - steel with PVC membrane
− operable pieces – Teflon coated fiberglass fabric
− The arch truss is fabricated from special high-strength grade 65 steel imported from
Luxembourg
− The structural steel’s wide flange sizes are up to W14x730 (14 inches in depth and
730 lbs. per foot)- the heaviest shape rolled in the world
− Number of bolts in arch spans: 50,000
− Total length of welding in arch spans: 165,000 feet
− Gallons of primer paint: 2,000
− Gallons of finish paint: 2,000
− The final keystone piece of the arch truss planar section is 56 feet long and weighs
110,000 pounds
Texas Stadium History Information
After 2008 football season, the Dallas Cowboys have made plans to move into a brand new $650 million stadium in Arlington, TX. The Cowboys will truly miss this great stadium in which they've won five Super Bowls in 37 years.
Texas Stadium is the home of America’s team, the Dallas Cowboys. Located in Irving, a suburb of Dallas, Texas Stadium opened its door on October 24, 1971 – at the price of a cool $35 million. Built to replace the Cotton Bowl, Texas Stadium can hold a capacity of 65,675 people. The playing surface was installed in 1971, and originally called “Texas Turf” – which was later replaced by a softer form of AstroTurf called “RealGrass.” The design was modeled after open roof European football (soccer) stadiums, in which fans are enclosed, but the playing field isn’t. It confused fans and players at the start, and Texas Stadium was initially dubbed “The Hole” – which led to linebacker DD Lewis’ famous quote – “ [The Hole] is there so that God can watch his favourite team.”
Texas Stadium is also a neutral host to university (college?) football games, and was formerly home to the SMU Mustangs, who now have their own on-campus field. It is also a venue for important high school football games in the autumn and winter seasons. Texas Stadium also hosted the 2001 Big 12 conference championship and the 1973 Pro Bowl. It has also home to wrestling events, religious gatherings – in fact, televangelist Billy Graham was the first ever event to be held at Texas stadium – and major concert events. And speaking of major, the two “bridges” connected to the support arms were placed so that country superstar Garth Brooks could fly above the crowd, and they have yet to be removed.
Sadly, The Cowboys will leave Texas Stadium when the 2008 NFL season is over, for a new, yet unnamed stadium in Arlington, TX. The new stadium is set to open at the start of the 2009 NFL season. It will be partially funded by Arlington taxpayers, who voted to approve a half cent VAT (sales tax?) as a way to fund $325 million of the $650 million priced stadium. Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones has gone as far as to spend $5 million to back the ballot measure, and agreed to cover any cost overruns – which, as of now, is close to 1 billion dollars. As a tribute to the Cowboys’ former home, the new stadium will also have a retractable roof system to resemble the “hole” of the original.
The fate of Texas Stadium remains uncertain once the Cowboys move away. The famed roof was repainted for the first time in ’06, funded by the city of Irving, and will continue to remain independent from the stadium it covers. The history, The Corral, the Super Bowl win commemorative flags, and fans’ memories will remain for a long time to come as well.
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