The Cowboys are bidding Irving's Valley Ranch, which has "served as a second home for the past 31 years," good-bye this week before moving to The Star in Frisco, according to Charean Williams of the FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM. The Cowboys host a mandatory minicamp today through Thursday, their "last official event at the practice facility." Then, they "go on vacation until training camp begins in July." When they return to Texas in August, the Cowboys "will settle into The Star in Frisco." The team’s new $1.5B training complex "includes a 12,000-seat practice facility." The Cowboys have "not had an indoor practice facility since their practice bubble collapsed in a severe thunderstorm May 2, 2009, during a rookie mini-camp" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/14). In Ft. Worth, Brian Gosset notes The Ford Center at The Star in Frisco is a 91-acre development and its designs are being led by O'Brien Architect VP & Dir of Design Sean O'Brien. The development is "so impressive that NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has already taken a tour of the Cowboys' headquarters and was reportedly 'blown away' by the plan." O'Brien's approach was to "build something that would appeal to a cross-section of people and fans and every generation." The Cowboys Ring of Honor Walk and Cowboys Community Ring of Honor are "two signature features in the development." O'Brien said, "It had to be a place that appealed to every person in some way." The football-centric portion of The Star "will open this summer." The mixed-use component "will open in the spring" of '17. O'Brien: "The vision is that people from all around the world will come here, not just from North Texas. All these uses create this environment that is the ultimate Cowboys experience, which I think is even beyond what AT&T Stadium may be" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 6/14).
