FORT WORTH, Texas — The City of Fort Worth and Fort Worth Independent School District are looking for ideas on developing the iconic Farrington Field and neighboring Billingsley Field House.
The City and school district paid $50,000 to pay for a panel from the Urban Land Institute to share ideas for the property’s redevelopment.
“It’s just generating big ideas about what could happen,” Fort Wort Architect Michael Bennett said. “You want to bring in some people to think big ideas, kind of out of the box.”
Bennett is also the chair of the Tarrant County subcommittee for the Urban Land Institute and led a tour of outside real estate experts at the 36-acre property next to the West 7th entertainment district. They’re also interviewing local leaders and neighboring stakeholders about their visions for the property.
“The hope is that the school district, the city and the community as a whole looks at some of these recommendations and says, ‘That’s a good idea. Let’s try to make that happen’,” said Bennett.
Any sale or redevelopment would still take time, and the ideas presented are only recommendations, but Historic Fort Worth said the process is moving fast.
“We saw this coming because of the development here and we were already saying this place matters,” said Jerry Tracy, the executive director of Historic Fort Worth.
The art deco stadium and field house have unique designs and share the same architect. The stadium has hosted pro football exhibitions and high school legends, and construction on it started back in 1937.
“If you grew up in Fort Worth, you came here. It is the mothership of all motherships,” Tracy said. “It functions. There’s nothing wrong with these buildings.”
The lot neighbors the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, and art museums to the west and Trinity River, parks and downtown to the east.
“Think of not only what it could do for this piece of land, but could this have a bigger impact on the city and the impact on the future of Fort Worth,” Bennett said. “But if we don’t do something, it’s not going to be possible to keep it in all likelihood.”
Bennett believes the lot doesn’t need to be a replica of the West 7th District and could easily become a relocation site for a corporate headquarters. His firm recently redeveloped Fort Worth’s Mule Alley in the Stockyards and says there are ways to preserve portions of the buildings and history.
“Maybe this becomes some sort of performance event space,” he said. “It would be wrong to scrap all this and start over because this is a part of our history. This is a part of Fort Worth’s history.”
Voters rejected a Fort Worth ISD bond to pay for new stadiums. The sale of long-term lease of the property could provide a different source of funding for new facilities.
“I would be trying to protect these buildings, not cash them in, because these buildings are for our children,” said Tracy.
The group will give its recommendations Thursday at 2:30 at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden Center.
Usually, Farrington Field is just in the spotlight on Friday nights. Now, it’s the focus of community leaders and in the crosshairs of developers.