Arlington, TX – Globe Life Park in Arlington begins its reconfiguration from a baseball to a multi-purpose facility this week. Details of the reconfiguration were announced Thursday at a press conference at Globe Life Park.
The facility, which was the home of the Texas Rangers for 26 seasons from 1994-2019, welcomes two new tenants in 2020, the Dallas Renegades of the new XFL spring league and North Texas Soccer Club of the USL League One which is affiliated with FC Dallas of Major League Soccer.
Details of the Globe Life Park in Arlington repurposing:
THE NEW FIELD
The football field and soccer pitch will be built to run north and south along what was previously the first base/right field side of the park. The third base dugout and the lower 18 rows of the third base seating bowl (approximately 6,000 total seats) will be removed to accommodate the north end of the field. The south end zone of the field will begin approximately 50 feet out from the front row of the Home Run Porch in order to improve sightlines on the south side.
The first base dugout will remain with the tunnel to be used for access to the home locker rooms. A tunnel will be constructed in the north end zone for access to the visiting and officials locker rooms.
FIELD SURFACE
The playing surface will be a synthetic grass field provided by Shaw Sports Turf with installation completed by Paragon Sports Constructors. The Rangers are also utilizing a state-of the art synthetic grass field in the new Globe Life Field. The permanent field surface will be unmarked to allow for seamless field conversion. The appropriate field lines will be added for each event.
ADDITIONAL SEATING
While the current first base bowl will provide the majority of the seating on the west side of the field, a permanent seating structure will be constructed on the field’s east side in the area that was previously left field, the visiting bullpen, and the left field reserved seating area. Approximately 4,000 seats will be added below the left field club level. The new configuration will provide access to rest rooms and concessions on Vandergriff Plaza.
OTHER SEATING BOWL RENOVATIONS
A television booth as well as home and visiting coaches’ booths will be constructed in the lower suite level at the mid-field location. The current press box will be utilized to accommodate all other media, broadcasting, and scoreboard operations for football and soccer events. Bench seating to accommodate bands attending football events will be installed in the current bowl down the left field and right field lines.
LOCKER ROOMS
The Texas Rangers clubhouse on the first base side will be renovated to accommodate the Dallas Renegades. This will include the addition of lockers to accommodate approximately 60 players in the main dressing area. Head coach Bob Stoops and the Renegades football staff will office in this location as well. The current visiting clubhouse on the third base side will be the visiting football locker room with lockers being added to this area.
In addition, two new auxiliary locker rooms are being built in the area that previously housed the Rangers’ and visiting batting cages. Each locker room will accommodate up to 80 players and will have coaches’ offices and shower facilities. This will allow for the hosting of multiple events and teams on the same day.
SBL Architecture of Arlington, which has its offices at Globe Life Park and has been involved in many of the facility’s renovations over the years, designed the reconfiguration of the park. The project’s general contractor is Manhattan Construction, which built The Ballpark in Arlington in the early 1990’s and is currently constructing the new Globe Life Field.
The Globe Life Park in Arlington reconfiguration is beginning this week with the removal of the baseball playing field and seats in the right field corner, along the third base line, in the left field corner, and in the left field reserved areas. In addition, the modules on the upper left field video board have been removed as these will be utilized for the out-of-town scoreboard located in centerfield in the new Globe Life Field. Work on Globe Life Park is expected to be complete by early 2020. The Renegades season begins in early February with North Texas Soccer Club starting its schedule in March.
ABOUT PARAGON SPORTS CONSTRUCTORS
Paragon Sports Constructors is a turn-key contractor of natural and synthetic turf sports fields, running tracks and tennis courts based in Fort Worth, Texas. With over 30 years of sports construction experience they are one of the premier athletic facility contractors in the South-Central United States. Paragon Sports Constructors is a member of the American Sports Builders Association who remains focused on quality construction practices, choosing to partner with top brand name manufacturers of synthetic turf, track, and tennis court surfacing to provide clients a consistently high-quality project from planning to first use and beyond. For more information on Paragon Sports Constructors please visit www.paragon-sports.com or follow them on Twitter @ParagonSportsCo.
ABOUT SHAW SPORTS TURF
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Shaw Industries is a full flooring provider to the residential and commercial markets. Shaw supplies carpet, hardwood, laminate, resilient, and tile/stone flooring products, as well as synthetic turf. Shaw Sports Turf is one of the leading synthetic turf companies in North America and has represented quality and innovation for more than two decades with over 3,000 successful installations, including an impressive list of high- profile field installations. STRENEXE, BOLT, BATTING A THOUSAND and B1K are trademarks of Shaw Contract Flooring Services, Inc. For more information please visit www.shawsportsturf.com, call 866-703-4004 or find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin. Geofill is a registered trademark of Italgreen SPA.
