Have you heard about the "royal flush" from Fort Worth's newest crown jewel? The big grand opening of Dickies Arena is just 10 days away. As the site prepared by testing out its facilities Wednesday, local businesses are getting ready for a possible economic boost.
The first concert is in about three weeks. The first rodeo is in January and many of the surrounding businesses can't wait.
As the clock winds down, the team at Dickies Arena is making sure when spectators are ready to go, the toilets are too.
Dickies partnered with Fort Worth ISD's Trimble Tech High School for help testing more than 470 all at once.
Students experienced a few kinks, like slow flushing, which president and general manager, Matt Homan, called "natural." He said subcontractors were on site to make necessary tweaks.
"Oh I feel very confident. We're ready to go, we'll be ready to open Oct. 26," Homan said.
Following that "super flush" -- a "super ride." Students also tried out the escalators and elevators.
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"Again these are just some things that you want to test the systems, you want to have everyone in the building before you open to the public," Homan said.
Soon the city's newest landmark will host between 140 and 150 events a year, according to Homan. From the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, to concerts, like twenty one pilots on Nov. 8, Jingle Ball and even women's gymnastics.
"We're also going to have USC play TCU in men's basketball here at the arena," he said.
"I'll take any business that they bring to us and more people to our area," said Lanny Lancarte II, the owner and executive chef at Righteous Foods.
It's all good news for nearby restaurants like his on West 7th Street.
"I think you're going to start seeing businesses boom around here and we're going to bring a lot of people here into Fort Worth," Homan said.
Lancarte, the owner of the healthy all-day café, Righteous Foods, said he hoped the growing event roster serves up big profits.
"On event nights it's going to be huge, especially the rodeo and the longer prolonged events that are weeks long, we can anticipate bigger crowds," he said.
Bigger crowds, from a bigger venue that's just days away from opening.
By the way, Dickies Arena is still hiring. There have been several job fairs this week. Once opened, it plans to have more than 1,300 part-time employees.
