More than two years after voters gave it the green light, the City of Fort Worth finally got to break ground Tuesday on a new $450 million arena at the Will Rogers Center.
Fort Worth resident Jodi Garcia, who's made countless treks east on Interstate 30 to see concerts or attend other big events, said it's about time.
"Fort Worth does not get its due," said Garcia. "It's such a beautiful city and it has so much to offer. But yeah -- having to go to Dallas for everything, I feel slighted being from Fort Worth."
Even Mayor Besty Price, the city's "cheerleader in chief," admits it's frustrating watching conventions, sporting events and concerts constantly bypass Fort Worth, simply because they don't have the right venue.
"We've known for a long time, as we've grown, that we had to do this," said Price.
Tuesday, she and other city leaders pulled out all the stops -- confetti canons included -- to send a loud message that such an arena is on the way.
"This is the icing on the cake," said Price.
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"Believe it, we're gonna have them coming from the East side of the Metroplex to [Fort Worth]," said Ed Bass, a Fort Worth billionaire and philanthropist, who is helping to pay for the project.
The 14,000 seat arena will host concerts, as well as sporting and community events -- and serve as the centerpiece of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo.
"I'm sure Fort Worth will rise to fully maximize the potential of this arena," said Bass.
He added it was critical that the arena have a name to match.
"Up until now, we've been calling it the Fort Worth Multi-Purpose Arena," said Bass. "Boy, I'm just glad to get that multi-syllabic word out of there!"
During the ceremony, he revealed that longtime Fort Worth company "Dickies" had purchased the naming rights -- and going forward, it will be called the Dickies Arena.
"These kinds of opportunities don't come up everyday," said Philip C. Williamson, Chairman & CEO of Dickies. "As we got involved, we were like we have to do this, we have to make this happen. [Dickies Arena] rolls off the tongue better, doesn't it?"
Garcia said they can call it whatever they want as long as it keeps her a little closer to home.
“I can’t wait!" said Garcia.
Dickies Arena is expected to open in November 2019.
Shortly after the ground-breaking ceremony, the NCAA announced the venue had been selected to host the first and second rounds of the 2022 Men's Basketball Tournament as well as the 2020, 2021, and 2022 Women's Gymnastics Championships.
Although it's being built just down the street from the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum, city leaders want to stress the historic arena will not be coming down and will continue to host events as well.
