Cotton Bowl

The Cotton Bowl at Fair Park is thick with the past, a place of names such as Doak Walker and Bear Bryant, of championships that will be long remembered and games that are all but forgotten.

Still, in the morning sun Tuesday, with the light shining off the benches of its newly constructed upper decks, the Cotton Bowl's past didn't seem to hold all the sway for once.
Instead, its future as one of the nation's largest stadiums was having a say.
Today, city officials are set to reveal the biggest transformation in the Cotton Bowl's 78-year history, a $57 million upgrade that added more than 16,000 seats to its end zones, finishing out the ends of its oval bowl with upper-level decks and bringing its total capacity to 92,200.
It's a change Cotton Bowl backers hope will mean a brighter future for a facility that many have dismissed as having its best days behind it.
"I don't think there is a bad seat in the stadium anymore," said Fair Park's general manager Daniel Huerta as he looked out over the field from the top of the north end-zone seats.
Mr. Huerta and other top Dallas Park and Recreation officials showed off the revamped stadium in advance of its unveiling today.
The changes include two contiguous concourses around the stadium, refurbished entryways with four new stairwells, 25 new bathrooms and concession stands that promise shorter waits.
To those who have been going to the Cotton Bowl for years, the changes are dramatic in parts of the stadium.
Gone is the flip-down seating installed in the 1960s. In its place are long lines of aluminum benches, 26 miles' worth.
The dark ramps at the entrances have been replaced with wide stairwells. The narrow corridors around the first-level concourse have been expanded from 12 feet to 30 feet.
"The [University of Texas/University of Oklahoma] people came to an old stadium last year, and they are going to show up in a new one this year. When you think of that in one year, that's almost miraculous," said Jim Curry, project architect for Heery International, an Atlanta firm that oversaw design and construction.
The renovation comes at an important time.
The stadium will lose its namesake game, the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, after 2009.
And despite some traction in adding new games, signing major college teams to square off in Dallas has been difficult.
City officials and Cotton Bowl backers hope the renovations will change that and make it easier to recruit smaller games, something with which the city has had more success.
Efforts to add games often come down to one question – capacity, said Paul Dyer, director of Dallas' Park and Recreation department.
"That was the No. 1 issue for Texas-OU, capacity, because that's revenue for them," he said of the historic game that is set to continue at the Cotton Bowl at least through 2015.
With the new upper decks, capacity is not a problem anymore. The Cotton Bowl is now the ninth largest stadium in the country, city officials said.
It's estimated to have about 2,200 more seats than its local rival – the new Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington – will have.
Unlike that stadium, the Cotton Bowl won't have luxury boxes or other high-dollar amenities.
"This is a premier college football venue. We're not trying to be a pro stadium," said Willis Winters, the park department's assistant director.
In addition to its enhanced capacity, the Cotton Bowl has some new features officials hope will attract more business.
Premium club seats, protected from the elements, are available in the north end zone. There are also comfortable flip-down seats on the 50-yard line in an area known as the Governors Section on the west side of the field.
If you're lucky enough to be a player, coach or insider, there is a new 16,000-square-foot media center at the north end zone that includes an expanded locker room for players, new locker rooms for coaches and a conference room that will be available for games and private functions.
The renovations are already having an impact, Mr. Huerta said.
The city recently signed Texas Southern University and the University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff to play at the Cotton Bowl.
Mr. Huerta said the city is also in talks with a newly formed professional football league to play seven games at the stadium.
A new day for the Cotton Bowl
Upper-deck seating: More than 16,000 seats were added to the end zones. The new seating brings the stadium's capacity to 92,200.
Contiguous concourse: Fans can now walk around the entire stadium along two concourses at the upper and lower levels.
Entrances: Four double stairwells were added at the corners of the end zones to speed entry and exit at the stadium.
New concession stands: At either end zone, a series of large new concession stands was designed to shorten waits and to place concession lines away from the main concourse leading to seats.
New restrooms: A frequent complaint has been about long lines at the bathrooms. Twenty-five bathrooms – including 1,100 new toilet fixtures – have been added, bringing the bathroom total to 39.
New media center and updated locker rooms: A 16,000-square- foot media center sits atop the north end zone. It includes a 2,600-square-foot conference room that can be used for news conferences or private events.
Seating: Covered premium club seating with 157 fold-down chairs is available at the south end zone. There are 396 fold-down seats in the Governors Section at the 50-yard line on the west side of the stadium. In each end zone on the upper-deck level, there are 550 individual seats with backs. On the west side, there are 15,000 bench seats with backs. The rest of the seating is backless aluminum benches.
On the schedule
Following are football games scheduled to be played in the refurbished Cotton Bowl.
•Oct. 4: Prairie View A&M University vs. Grambling State University
•Oct. 11: University of Texas vs. University of Oklahoma
•Oct. 18: Texas A&M University-Commerce vs. East Central University
•Nov. 29: Texas Southern vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff
•Jan. 2: AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic