New Small Multi-Purpose Arena Will Turn Fort Worth Into Imaginary Business & Culture Mecca

I saw that which you see above, this morning, side by side, on the front page of the Sunday October 27 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, online version.

Two articles.

On the left "Dickies Arena will promote Fort Worth as important city for business and culture".

On the right "Protesters interrupt Mayor Betsy Price during Dickies Arena opening ceremony."

I did not bother reading either of the articles. I knew, just from the article headline, that the one on the left would be full of Star-Telegram style propaganda puffery. Touting the nonsense that a relatively small multi-purpose arena will somehow have some sort of trans-formative effect on Fort Worth's business and culture fortunes.

While the article on the right likely sort of accurately reported on the continuing disgust of many Fort Worth locals regarding the Fort Worth police's multi-year history of shooting deaths of innocent citizens.

Fort Worth might want to think about improving the national and international bad reputation of its police force before the town deludes itself into thinking anything about Fort Worth promotes the town as important for business, let alone culture.

Maybe Fort Worth might want to think about the message the town sends with the boarded up eyesore of a park at the north end of its downtown.

Heritage Park.

Intended as an homage to Fort Worth's imaginary storied heritage.

Heritage Park was closed soon after four visitors to Fort Worth drowned in a poorly designed part of the Water Gardens at the south end of downtown.

Heritage Park also had a couple water features. Water features of a depth too shallow to drown anything, but maybe a mouse or rat.

But, those who run Fort Worth so ineptly feared Heritage Park might become the source of another costly lawsuit, you know, should someone somehow manage to drown in the shallow depths of one of Heritage Park's water features.

In a sense, the current state of Heritage Park does serve as an accurate metaphor for the town's actual heritage.

A short distance to the west of Heritage Park we have the location of the Radio Shack Corporate Headquarters Boondoggle.

Eminent domain was used to take property so Radio Shack could build a new corporate headquarters, which Radio Shack soon found it could not afford. So, Tarrant County College then took over much of the campus.

But, the damage to Fort Worth was already done. Due to the Radio Shack Boondoggle Fort Worth lost the world's shortest subway line, lost acres of free parking, which, with that subway line, made visiting downtown Fort Worth easy, and with free parking.

Then due north of Heritage Park we have another homage to the actual inept incompetent heritage of Fort Worth. The massive ruins of what has become America's Dumbest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision.

Currently with three simple little bridges stuck partly built over dry land, with construction started in the first half of this decade, currently scheduled to possibly be completed at some point in the next decade. With water added under the bridges at a currently undetermined date way in the future.

Yeah, one can really see how a new, relatively small, special events arena will be just the ticket to help promote Fort Worth as an important city for business and culture.

When will this propaganda nonsense ever end? When will Fort Worth ever get a real newspaper?

Well, James Michael Russell, a real journalist, is now journalizing for Fort Worth Weekly. Maybe there is hope that that weekly "newspaper" will again start practicing actual legit investigative journalism...

Historically Musical Fort Worth's New Dickies Arena

I saw that which you see here a day or two ago in my favorite online propaganda purveyor, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The article headline instantly struck me as patented Star-Telegram style puffery.

New "one-of-a-kind" venue?

I know this arena is new, and that it is a venue. But one-of-a-kind? That seems unlikely.

Reading the article I expected to be seeing multiple instances of propaganda puffery.

And I did.

However, perusing the "Dickies Arena, Fort Worth's new one-of-a-kind venue, is for more than just rodeo" article and reading the parts of the article which were actual factual descriptions of this new Fort Worth building, and looking at the gallery of photos, I can see this is a cool new addition to Fort Worth. An edifice any town anywhere would be proud of to have in their town.

But, having said this, let's take a look at the ridiculous propaganda puffery in this latest Star-Telegram Chamber of Commerce style production.

First paragraph...

Fort Worth likely hasn’t seen anything like Dickies Arena in a generation.

Well, now that assertion certainly can not be argued with. Nothing much has been built in Fort Worth of the large public facility sort or downtown skyscraper sort, since I first laid eyes on Fort Worth about two decades ago. One must point out the Modern Art Museum, added to Fort Worth this century, near Dickies, is impressive, and was added to Fort Worth in a generation.

Also impressive is the fact that the Dickies Arena was built in what for Fort Worth was a short construction timeline. I mean, it seems like only four or five years ago voters approved of this project by approving three silly ballot measures. One to charge a livestock stall fee, one to charge a parking fee, one to charge an admission ticket fee. I may not be remembering totally accurately the three ballot measures, but I can accurately say I had never ever witnessed such a bizarre ballot measure used to approve a public works project.

It is sort of ironic that Dickies Arena was built to completion in the years since America's Dumbest Boondoggle, also known as the Trinity River Central City Uptown Panther Island District Vision began trying to build three simple little bridges over dry land, starting with a TNT exploding celebration way back in 2014.

I suspect the project engineer who oversaw the construction of Dickies was an actual qualified professional sort, and not the inept son of a local congress person.

And then the next paragraph...

Sure, Fort Worth has seen its share of visionary endeavors. AllianceTexas is an economic driver. TEXRail connects downtown to DFW Airport. We’re promised continued growth in Near Southside and one day maybe along the river’s Panther Island.

Visionary endeavors? And these are the examples? Nothing more needs to be said.

And then there is this rather elevated claim...

“I think, you know, the level of finish that you have in this building is second to no other in the United States,” said Dickies Arena General Manager Matt Homan.

Okay, the General Manager of this building project has reason to be proud of the accomplishment. But, second to no other in the United States?

And then these two paragraphs featuring Fort Worth's mayor...

Dickies Arena would not have been possible with out the generosity of Fort Worth’s philanthropic community, said Fort Worth Mayor Betsy Price.

“There’s not a lot of cities that can say they have a nearly $600 million venue that’s mostly funded by private donors,” she said. “People who don’t want to go to Dallas can come to Fort Worth and feel right at home.”

Uh, Fort Worth has a population over 800,000. Dear Betsy, most American towns of this size can finance a relatively small project like this arena without relying on charity from their town's more wealthy citizens. Having to do so is nothing to be bragging about.

And then we have an embarrassing quote from a local Fort Worth architect...

“I think it’s a really great mix of old and new,” Roberts said. “Our Cultural District is the best in the country. We’ve been very fortunate to have these world-renowned architects add to our city.”

How many big cities in America have an area of their town which they designate as being their Cultural District, one can not help but wonder? Is Culture allowed in other parts of Fort Worth? Or is Culture restricted to being allowed only in the Cultural District?

The following is an amusing paragraph with its comparison of a sign to a pickup truck...

If you can’t see the action on the floor, there’s a 25-by-38-foot rounded video board hanging from the dome. It’s the second largest of its kind in the country (behind the one in Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena) and weighs 12 times as much as a Chevrolet Silverado.

Oh my, a curved video board second biggest in America. And weighing 12 times more than a Chevy Silverado. Is that the small version of that pickup, such as the one I drive? Or one of the big versions?

Then there is a series of paragraphs touting what a great music venue Dickies Arena will be, unlike anything else available in the DFW market, including this doozy...

Fort Worth has historically been a music town. Elvis Presely played in Cowtown Coliseum early in his career and Willy Nelson cut his teeth in honkytonks along Jacksboro Highway, she said.

Oh yes, Fort Worth has historically been a music town. I bet you reading this in locations in modern America were totally aware of this. Oh my,  Elvis (Star-Telegram editors, Presley is the correct spelling of the Elvis last name, historically speaking) sang in the Stockyard's Coliseum way back over a half century ago, in the 1950s, followed by Willie singing in Jacksboro honkytonks. That is quite a music history.

Okay, that is enough of this. Read the entire "Dickies Arena, Fort Worth's new one-of-a-kind venue, is for more than just rodeo" article to find other gems of propaganda nonsense, such at the final sentence in the article...

“This is really giving Fort Worth a much higher profile.”...

Dickies Arena Defines What Fort Worth Is

What you are looking at here is a screen cap from a Fort Worth Star-Telegram article.

That confetti in the air is part of a celebration marking the start of construction of a Fort Worth Multi-Purpose Arena.

In Fort Worth not a lot happens, so when something does happen, or seems to happen, a big deal is made.

Such as years ago when a big TNT explosion's big boom marked the start of construction of three little bridges being built on dry land to connect the Fort Worth mainland to an imaginary island.

The construction of which has now been stalled for a year.

One can hope a similar stall does not hamper the construction of this simple arena destined to become a Fort Worth landmark, along with all those other well known Fort Worth landmarks.

This arena project came about as the result of a Fort Worth rarity. As in the public was allowed to, sort of, vote for it. Several years ago there was a ballot measure with three propositions relating to this arena, which if the voters approved these propositions this somehow obligated them to pay for half of the approximately half billion dollar arena, and approved the construction of the arena.

To approve the building of this arena voters voted yes on a fee on horse stalls, a tax on parking and a tax on ticket sales. Not an up or down vote on the arena, but instead voting on these three separate propositions.

You in democratic parts of America, and the world, I am not making this up, this is really how this arena came to be approved by the voters.

And now in this Dickies Arena will become Fort Worth landmark, CEO says article we learn that naming this arena after well known work pants is a great fit, according to the work pants maker...

Phillip Williamson, chairman and CEO, whose great-grandfather and grandfather helped found the company in 1922, said it was a natural fit to gain the naming rights. The workwear company is long time sponsors of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, he said.

“We’re committed and passionate about continuing to ensure Fort Worth remains one of the fastest growing cities in the nation,” Williamson said. “We couldn’t be prouder to have the Dickies name on an arena that will become one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.”

The article did not inform us as to how much Dickies paid to have the new Fort Worth arena have the Dickies name, or what other entities, if any, submitted naming bids.

I found the following paragraph to be interestingly confusing...

The city has already raised $25 million for the arena and in mid-July expects to issue special tax revenue bonds for the remainder. Voters approved the project in a special referendum in 2014. The city will pay the debt through hotel occupancy taxes, a car rental tax as well as revenues generated by taxes at the arena itself.

Okay, back in the 2014 referendum I do not remember mention made of these other revenue generating methods being part of what the voters approved. The Bass Gang was supposed to pay for the other half of the cost, with the public half raised by those aforementioned means, such as renting horse stalls.

And then there is this badly written paragraph which I assume the Star-Telegram editors, if they still have any, will fix...

The Stock Show moved from the Coliseum in the Stockyards in north Fort Worth to the Will Rogers in 1945. Bass called said it “was an historic move and defines what we are.”

Was that last sentence intended to be "Bass, when called on the phone, said it "was an historic move and defines what we are."

Yeah, I would agree with that, making a big deal out of this arena, and calling it Dickies, really does sort of define what Fort Worth is....