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Texas Is at It Again–And In a Big Way, of Course
By Mark J. Shaw, Editor-in-Chief
Growing up in a small resort town in rural Colorado, I learned to hunt, fish and camp before I was out of grade school. In high school, my father taught me how to tie flies, roll a kayak and skin a deer. Most of my friends also were raised to know their way around a campsite and fishing pole, so we never thought much about how lucky we were to be living in a Rocky Mountain paradise.
Davy Crockett stuff aside, it was a great place to grow up, except for the fact that nearly everyone who lived there was highly dependent upon a steady string of tourists for their livelihood. That wasn't a problem most of the time because the visitors to our little slice of altitude were as glad to be there as we were, and everyone got along pretty well–until around the Fourth of July every summer.
Then, the town was descended upon by packs of barrel-chested men in Cadillacs wearing white ten-gallon hats, rattlesnake boots and big turquoise rings–and flashing wads of money.
The Texans had arrived for summer vacation.
Shopkeepers were inundated with their twang and off-the-wall questions: "Is a mile the same length up here, 'cause it sure seems a lot smaller?" or "Can you tell me at what altitude deer turn into elk?"
I worked as a sales clerk in the sporting goods store owned by my best friend's father. Inevitably, it was one of their first stops in town and a good place to unload some Big Lone Star State attitude: "Tell me, boy, where are the fish bitin' this weekend, and what do I need to catch 'em before you local yokels do?"
It was my standard practice to sell them a $1,000 or so worth of fishing tackle and send them happily off to fish at the kids' pond near the sewage treatment plant on the edge of town.
But their visits generated enough seasonal income, good stories and predictable humor to last us the rest of the summer.
As an adult, I have worked my way through most of that deeply entrenched, precious regionalism and recognize that even people from Texas should be allowed to travel to other states without passports and references. I have even visited the Lone Star State several times myself on business and have witnessed what Texas know-how and ingenuity can accomplish.
That's why I am pleased that in this issue of Constructor we are covering the changing face of the bigger-and-better Dallas/Fort Worth area, highlighting more than a dozen projects that are transforming the Big D into its own tourist destination.
Cover story writer Bruce Buckley offers a tour of the city's 2.3-million-sq-ft stadium, which will become the largest venue in the National Football League when it's finished next year, with its 80,000 fixed seats and a capacity of up to 100,000 people. The stadium roof is supported by two 1,224.5-ft arches make the roof the longest clear-span structure in the world.
Buckley's list of bigger and biggest projects goes on, with the $479-million GloryPark mixed-use development, which includes 900,000 sq ft of retail, 150,000 sq ft of office space and a mix of residential units, hotels and entertainment venues. The city is polishing its fine arts venues with the new Winspear Opera House and the 12-level Wyly Theatre, designed by Rem Koolhaas. Hospitality projects include 33-story W Dallas Victory Hotel and Residences, a key piece of the 75-acre Victory Park development near the American Airlines Center. Other plans call for a 120-room Mandarin Oriental Hotel and The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, part of the 45-story Victory Tower–and the list goes on and on.
Looks like Texas is still doing things in a big way.
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