|
These photos were taken on a Sunday when no active
destruction was taking place. We were not allowed to take photos or
video when the destruction was actively under way. Does this not look
like the aftermath of a hurricane, tornado or earthquake? But this is
a man made unnatural disaster, so that's okay. Even though it could
have been prevented, an option not available when it's Mother Nature
making life hard.
|
| America's Team? When the
Cowboy's owner demanded a new stadium to replace the existing
one, that being a stadium that also is not in Dallas, but in
Irving, Dallas could not come up with a plan to build a new
stadium, even with a badly run-down Cotton Bowl blighting an
other wise beautiful Fair
Park, providing the perfect location and a potential huge
boost to downtown Dallas. So with Dallas not wanting the
Cowboys, the small town of Arlington voted to build the new
stadium. So, when it comes to paying for and building a house
for the Cowboys they are not only not America's Team,
they are not North Texas's team, they are not
the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplexes' team, they are not
Dallas's team, they are Arlington's team.
D. S.
Fort Worth, Texas
click
to read more feedback |
|
|
AMERICA'S TEAM
"An untold number of lives have been direly disrupted for a new football stadium for what the
locals call America's Team, that being the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football
League." (source: the
webpage you are reading right now)
The previous statement cut and pasted from a
paragraph in the link Henry provided, the phrase "what the locals call" is so true. Spent 3 years in Los Angeles and I had to constantly tell people I
was introduced to that I am from Houston, not Dallas because they would incessantly remind me
that the Cowboys damn sure weren't their team. Spent 2 years in Norfolk, Va. with the exact same
thing. Spent time in Waco and nobody I met there watched the Cowboys, they either followed Baylor
or one of the "popular" teams of that time, if I remember right it was the 49er's or the Raiders,
one of the Cal. teams. In fact in all my 52 years on this earth I have never actually met anyone
who called them that personally, the media perpetuates that fantasy and Cowboy here does as well
but no person I know does. Where did that come from anyway?
Rick (writing
in a NFL Blog) |
|
Read what we
found out about America's Team after reading ridiculous
articles about that subject in the Saturday, January 12, 2008
Fort Worth Star-Telegram. |
|
 |
Yet one more view of rubble. And a couple dead trees.
|
|
City
has right to seize land, Judge Rules
The City of Arlington legally has the right to take residents'
land for the Cowboy's Stadium, a county court judge ruled
Friday (August 4, 2006). The summary judgment, which affects
17 cases represented by attorney Bob Cohen, was the first step
in several lawsuits filed against the city regarding the
condemnation of land for the project. Cohen said the cases
will now go to trial to determine whether the city should have
paid the landowners more.
from the Fort
Worth Star-Telegram (August 7, 2006) |
|
|
|
|
Another apartment building, gutted, awaiting destruction. It is not
known how much attention was paid to asbestos contamination during the
rush of destruction.
|
|
Across from what may be the world's nicest Super Wal-Mart, formerly
sat the Waterford. The most expensive of the resident complexes
destroyed in the Dallas Cowboy onslaught. Wouldn't you love to be
forced to move under these type circumstances?
|
|
Click
for a map showing the New Stadium's Location and other Arlington
Attractions
|
|
The building formerly known as Ameriquest Field, now, again, the
Ballpark in Arlington, viewed in the
background through a pile of rubble.
|
 |
The multiple square miles of destruction seem endless
while driving through the desolation zone. Where did all this rubble
go? |
|
Regarding the person from Texas
who made the point that when paying for a new stadium the
Cowboys are pretty much a team without a town and seeing you've
pointed out how Seattle built two stadiums, adjacent, without
displacing any Seattleites from their homes, I thought you might
be interested in how the new Seattle stadium was funded, as
compared to the Cowboy stadium. First off, in a referendum
the entire state voted on the stadium proposal. The principle
behind the funding method was that the cost should be primarily
born by those who benefited, i.e. football fans and the team
owner. With owner Paul Allen responsible for 1/3 (plus any
overruns) and the public covered 2/3's of the estimated cost.
The public portion was funded via a special sports lottery game,
parking and admissions taxes at the facility, a portion of the
state sales tax collected in King County (where Seattle is) and
a hotel/motel tax in King County. It
is baffling to me that the funding for the Cowboy Stadium fell
on one municipality. I've been to the Dallas-Fort Worth
Metroplex. The population of that urban area is about the same
as the entire state of Washington. You'd think that since a
new stadium benefited the entire region that the entire region
would have been involved in the process. How in the world were
those people convinced to vote for such a proposal? William
G.
Seattle, Washington
click
to read more feedback
|
|
|
Rubble in front of us, rubble to the right, rubble to
the left, rubble behind, rubble everywhere.
|
|
And some more rubble. This view is from the parking lot
of a new Super Wal-Mart. The land for the Super Wal-Mart was acquired
the old-fashioned way, paying fair market value.
|
|
The pile of rubble looks like it could explode onto the road.
|
|
How many lives were once part of what is
now this huge pile of
rubble? Was this caused by a tsunami? A tornado? A hurricane? A Cowboy? Is there asbestos in this mess? |
|
Yes, this does look like Beirut. But it is in the United States. In
Arlington. Texas.
|
| I have attended more
than a dozen Super Bowls. I will never attend a football game in
this stadium in Arlington. What a shameful way to go about
building a new stadium.
Peter B.
Schenectady, New York
click
to read more feedback |
|
|
As of April, 2006, the owners of this house continued to successfully
stall the bulldozers, while all around them everything had already
been destroyed. Eventually they agreed to leave. For a few million
dollars.
August 27. 2007, a year and 4 months after the above
photo was taken of the last house standing, the structure on the left
has risen. The house was due south of the east end of the Stadium
Super Wal-Mart, the same view we are looking at here, well not exactly
the same view. The house is gone and something very big has grown in
its place.
|
|
|
Read the sad story of one of those who fell victim to the Dallas
Cowboy Hurricane. One of the few victims who have fought their
destruction in court. This article came from the Fort Worth
Star-Telegram.
|
VICTIMS START TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST EMINENT
DOMAIN ABUSE
Billy Mitchell Ford was so angered by what
he believed to be eminent domain abuse, with the abuse being
private businesses evoking eminent domain for their private
gain, that during the month of August, 2007, he placed a
billboard along I-30 in west Fort Worth. The billboard said
"Eminent Domain---Stealing what others work for."
It was reported in local media that Mr. Ford objected to the
Dallas Cowboy Stadium land grab, the Fort Worth Trinity  Uptown
land grab and most personally, and what set him off, the abuse
of the principal of eminent domain by natural gas drilling
companies tapping Barnett Shale Gas in north Texas and running
roughshod over people's perceptions of their property rights,
especially his own. Mr. Ford leased his property to drillers
and currently has 2 revenue generating wells. But the first
drillers then leased the mineral rights to another driller,
Empire. Empire decided it needed to lay a pipeline down the
middle of Ford's property. They offered him only $17,000. He
decided to fight them in court, but that soon grew too
expensive. Ford settled his suit with Empire. Empire built the
pipeline. And then refused to let Ford build a road across the
pipeline, effectively cutting him off from half his property.
It is not known if Mr. Ford plans on any more billboards or if
he has any other plans to fight eminent domain abuse. |
|
|
We are fairly certain this 'Future Resident Parking' sign does not refer to
future football fans.
|
|
|
|
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as
of April 11, 2008 |
|
|
Looking west, from the east side of the new
stadium, standing on a Texas Ranger's Ballpark parking lot. For
free. Both roof support arches have been complete for quite
sometime. The roof is going on the south side roof. The trusses
are still being put in place on the north side.
|
 |
Four Flags wave on top of the north roof support
arch. We could make out the U.S. Flag. The Lone Star Flag of
Texas was the easiest to discern. We decided the third flag was
the Dallas Cowboy's flag. That left us speculating that the 4th
Flag must be Jerry Jones's Official flag. Likely the Skull &
Crossbones and maybe some artistically rendered semblance of the
state symbol of some long bygone fascist regime that also ran
roughshod over the rights and lives of others would be part of
the Jerry Jones flag. |
 |
Looking north from a closed off street. Behind us
are rundown, still lived in apartments that survived the Jerry
Jones Tornado Bulldozers. We do not know if surviving Jerry
Jones and his Gang of Pirates will remain their fate. |
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as
of January 20, 2008 |
|
|
Looking north from the south side of the stadium.
This photo shows some of the industrial wasteland the new
stadium will look down on, probably in more ways than one,
unless still more Dallas Cowboy/Jerry Jones eminent domain abuse
occurs and cleans this area up. It will likely be the most
unique view Super Bowl attendees will ever have experienced in
any Super Bowl city.
|
 |
This view is from the east side of the stadium on
Randol Mill Road, You can see the second roof support arch is
almost halfway done. |
|
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as
of January 6, 2008 |
|
|
A new banner has been added to the Cowboy Stadium
saying "HOME OF SUPER BOWL XLV".
Where is the banner mentioning all those other
people who used to call this area home? Like "FORMER HOME
OF 1,894 DALLAS COWBOY VICTIMS".
|
 |
Sadly, these surviving apartments are of a much
lesser quality than most of those that the Cowboys destroyed.
But they were safe from the wrecking ball, for now, located on
the west side of Collin Street. The Cowboy Stadium rises on the
east side of Collins Street. |
 |
These are the Plantation Apartments. They are at
the intersection of Collins and Randol Mill Streets, directly
across from the Dallas Cowboys Preview Center. |
 |
Here we are looking at the aforementioned Dallas
Cowboys Preview Center with the stadium behind it. The Preview
Center used to be a bank before the Dallas Cowboys took it over. |
 |
We are looking east here, on Randol Mill Road,
looking at a Super Wal-Mart on the left, the Ballpark in
Arlington in the center and the new Cowboy stadium on the right.
The red SUV is heading south on Collins Street. |
|
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as
of November 11, 2007 |
|
|
These 3 photos were taken on a sunny Sunday in
November. A day off for the builders meant we could take photos
with no one there to tell us not to. In this photo we are at the
southwest end of the stadium. |
 |
The stadium's giant arch can be seen for miles.
We are at the west end of the stadium looking slightly southeast
in this photo. |
 |
That is the Ballpark in Arlington, where the
Texas Rangers play baseball, visible in the distance, behind
where goal posts will likely be located in the near future. |
| 11/20/2007---Jerry
Jones and the Dallas Cowboys reveal part of how they are
going to pay for their share of the cost of their new
stadium. It will cost Dallas Cowboys season ticket holders from $16,000 to $50,000
for a Personal Seat License (PSL), which gives the PSL
owner the option to buy game tickets for $100s more per
game. That doesn't include parking, example, $750 for a premier season parking pass.
The Dallas Cowboy PSL fee breaks the NFL record,
previously held by the Carolina Panthers at $12,000. The
Seattle Seahawks charge $3,000, the Oakland Raiders
$4,900, the Pittsburgh Steelers $2,700. |
|
|
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as
of October 16, 2007 |
|
 |
On this gray drizzly Tuesday of October 16, 2007
the first of the new stadium's 2 roof supporting arches joined
in the middle.
Scroll down to see photos of the arch earlier
in the building process. |
 |
|
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as
of August 27, 2007 |
 |
Looking west at the east end
of the new stadium. |
|
Texans build things fast when they
want to. Scroll down to see a photo from May 4, 2007. Seems like
quite a bit of progress in just a bit over 3 months. At this
pace it would seem the new stadium will be completed ahead of
schedule.
In this photo we see banners have been placed
naming 4 of the concourses. The top one is imaginatively named
'Upper Concourse', under the Upper is 'Star', under Star is
'Ring of Honor' and beneath the Rig is 'Silver'. It looks like
there is a concourse below Silver. One might guess 'Gold'. Maybe
the Gold banner blew off in the last windstorm.
|
 |
Here we see partly constructed one
of the 2 arches that will support the stadium's roof. The arch
in progress is supported by steel towers and cranes until it
meets its other half and can support itself. |
|
|
The State of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium as of May 4, 2007 |
 |
The new Dallas Cowboy
Stadium is starting to take shape. You can now definitely see
where the stadium sits on the former homeowner/apartment land.
It is very close to its nearest commercial establishment, a
Super Wal-Mart. The view we see here is from the Super Wal-Mart
parking lot.
There was talk of building this stadium in Dallas,
at Fair Park, where the Cotton Bowl is located. That would
have seemed to have been a great location, with views of the
Dallas skyline. Most pro sports stadiums seem to be in locations
with a view.
There is no big city skyline to view from
where the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium sits. We're not quite sure
where the openings to the stadium will orient, precisely, but it
appears that the Super Wal-Mart will be the scenic view for the
north side of the stadium. This Super Wal-Mart may be the
finest, most upscale Super Wal-Mart in the world, very view
worthy for the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium.
Currently the Super Wal-Mart's design reflects
its proximity to baseball's Ballpark
in Arlington, which is down the road a bit. There are large
baseballs adorning the Super Wal-Mart and the parking lot, one
which you can see by enlarging this photo. There are also
longhorns embossed on the building which you can also see in
this photo. A nod to Fort
Worth?
Perhaps by the time the new Dallas Cowboy
Stadium opens some footballs can be added to the Super Wal-Mart
building. That would seem appropriate, what with it being the
main view from the stadium. |
 |
|
|
The above
photo taken on a gray, drizzly Tuesday day of October 16, 2007.
With the two sides of the first arch meeting on this day one can
see the new stadium is going to hover high above these temporary
school buildings a short distance away.
|
A shameful
visual metaphor for misplaced priorities, here we see an
Arlington elementary school using a large number of dilapidated
"temporary" classrooms with the Dallas Cowboy
Stadium construction cranes hovering above. With Jerry Jones and
family being such renowned philanthropists (as noted above)
maybe the Cowboys could let the Arlington schools use the new
stadium's luxury suites as temporary classrooms on non-game
days. |
|
|
|
On
March 28, 2000 a Tornado struck a damaging blow to Fort Worth,
Texas, destroying homes, skyscrapers, churches and businesses. Five
and 1/2 years later, on September 24, 2005, Hurricane Rita struck
the Gulf Coast of Texas, homes were lost, much damage occurred, many
Texans left homeless refugees. In 2006, in the Dallas/Fort
Worth Metroplex city of Arlington, Hurricane/Tornado scale manmade
damage erupted, disrupting hundreds, if not thousands, of lives,
destroying 104 homes of an estimated 312 residents, forcing the
evacuation of an estimated 871 residents from several destroyed
apartment complexes, obliterating 32 businesses, everything from
restaurants to tire stores to banks to motels. This was an easily
preventable unnatural disaster, yet it was allowed to occur,
even sanctioned and paid for by the citizens of Arlington, some of
whom may have even voted to pay for their own destruction.
