More than a year after voters approved a new $450 million multi-purpose arena, the Fort Worth City Council is set to put the plan into motion on Tuesday.
The council is set to approve an ordinance approving the Master Agreement for the project, which the ordinance says will "allow construction to begin in earnest."
That construction will likely begin in two or three months with a new parking garage to make-up for the parking spots that will be lost with the construction of the new arena at Gendy and Harley near the Will Rogers Memorial Center.
On any given day, the center is full of people from across the country and around the world.
"I'm from Eyota, Minnesota," said Lynelle McCaleb on Tuesday.
McCaleb and her horse, Maverick, are competing in the American Paint Horse Associations' World Championships. It's her first visit to Texas and she's impressed by the facility.
"It's probably similar to the one in Tulsa, but you know of these two arenas, this is probably one of the better ones," McCaleb said.
The best arena, though, city officials will contend, is yet to come.
"This is going to be another crown jewel when this arena gets open," said Kirk Slaughter, Fort Worth public events director.
Construction on the arena itself won't start though until after the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo in 2017, because there is a laundry list of things that need to be completed first.
"Lease agreements, parking agreements, all those things you have to fine tune," Slaughter said.
The city must still acquire the Bodycote property adjacent to where the parking garage and arena will be built. But for the last few months, utility lines have been moved as part of work on Montgomery Street.
Slaughter says designs and specifics of the building are in their final stages and are impressive from what he's seen.
"Luxury suites, great sight lines, you can imagine all the neat stuff," he said.
Neat stuff the city hopes will bring in more concerts, sporting events and horse shows. They're all events and visitors that fuel the city's economy.
The city's contribution in this private-public partnership is capped at $225 million. The arena should be open in 2019.
