Proposal would add 16,000 seats to Cotton Bowl, But....

Dallas' Cotton Bowl would expand by more than 16,000 seats and realize a bevy of structural improvements under a renovation proposal presented Monday to the City Council. The proposal comes as the University of Texas and University of Oklahoma are threatening to move the annual football showdown out of the Cotton Bowl site for the first time since 1929. The nearly $50 million project would increase the art deco stadium's capacity to 92,107 spectators and call for the construction of new seating areas, restrooms, concession stands, a scoreboard and video board and sound system, according to the 34-page proposal document. An expanded upper deck wrapping around the Cotton Bowl's end zones would constitute the additional seating, the proposal indicates. Most council members expressed strong support for the plan.... A sale of stadium-naming rights would fund most or all of the first of two project phases, the funding of which the State Fair of Texas would front. The initial improvement phase is estimated to cost $19 million and be completed by late next year, according to the proposal. A less preferred funding option, the plan states, is the city waiving the State Fair's annual rent payment -- about $1.2 million. That money, along with an additional $1.2 million annually the State Fair would spend, would fund the first phase. "We need to get the naming rights -- that must be done," council member Mitchell Rasansky said. A second phase would be funded through a city bond program – which would have to approved by voters -- and include the replacement of the Cotton Bowl's current seats and installation of new lighting and utilities. New media and VIP facilities would also be included, the plan states.... But unless Dallas receives long-term commitments from the college football teams that play annually at the stadium, "then we won't upgrade the Cotton Bowl," Mayor Laura Miller said. (In part from Dallas Morning News Much more)