Texas Rangers break ground on new ballpark
ARLINGTON, Texas - The Texas Rangers broke ground on their new billion dollar stadium on Thursday afternoon.
Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred helped out with the ceremonial first shovel along with Arlington city officials. Rangers Hall of Famers pitcher Kenny Rogers and catcher Pudge Rodriguez even took part in a ‘first pitch’ of sorts.
An entertainment development called Texas Live is already under construction just south of the current Globe Life Park. Plans for the $1.1 billion project also call for plenty of open spaces, a plaza, restaurants, a bar, hotel, and of course a state-of-the-art ballpark.
“It will also be a facility that I hope will host events that are not just Rangers events,” Manfred said. “Events like an All-Star Game, events like a [World Baseball Classic] final, and if everybody at the Rangers do their jobs -- maybe even a World Series.”
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“We want to create the best experience in baseball for our fans. That’s a simple goal. Everybody says that. The way we’ve decided to say it is we really want to create the first next generation ballpark,” said Bryan Trubey with HKS Architects.
The Texas Live area is expected to be ready next year. The new hotel should be complete in 2019 and the ballpark itself will be ready for the first pitch in 2020.