Two days before ground is "officially broken" on the Rangers' $1B retractable-roof ballpark, some Arlington City Council members "balked at the facility's preliminary design," according to Loyd Brumfield of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS. The Rangers last week "unveiled official renderings of the new facility." City council members Sheri Capehart and Robert Shepard during their regular meeting yesterday said that the new ballpark looks "too much like a shed." After seeing venues with comparable designs, Shepard said, "When I saw the slide of Lucas Oil Stadium, I thought, 'Oh, no, that looks like a field house." Council member Charlie Parker called the renderings "too institutional." Parker: "It looks like you hit a home run with your design on the inside, but on the outside it seems that it is wanting for some other details" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/27). Parker added, "I don’t feel like it’s giant steps ahead of the old ballpark." Capehart also said, "The exterior looks cluttered to me. This doesn’t speak ballpark to me" (FT. WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM, 9/27). Council member Victoria Farrar-Myers said, "When I first looked at this, this spoke to me as a field house. ... I've just seen some of the other ballparks, and quite frankly, this looks like a cold place to me." Rangers officials "left City Hall before hearing the criticism of council members." But the team did share "results of a fan feedback survey." Out of 1,760 fan comments, 494 respondents said that mass transit was "key to improving their ballpark experience," ahead of adding more parking spaces (220 responses), better entry and exit points (162 responses) and shuttle service (132 responses)." The number one thing fans said they "liked about Globe Life Park was the in-game entertainment." The game itself "finished second" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 9/27).
