Dallas Considers Razing Reunion Arena

(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Dallas, Texas is looking at options for the Reunion Arena, including demolition, to create a massive downtown entertainment complex in 2008. The city is looking to potentially attract horse racing and casino-style gambling to the city center.

A document slated for presentation to the Dallas City Council, obtained by the Dallas Morning News, confirmed predictions that Dallas would attempt to swap city-owned Reunion Arena and its surrounding land to billionaire oil man Ray Hunt in exchange for part of a parking lot on which it wants to develop an entertainment complex to complement the adjacent Dallas Convention Center.

According to the paper, the city will in turn partner with Dallas City Limits, a group run by Texas entertainment mogul Billy Bob Barnett, to create the complex in the near future, though no timeline was offered.

The “Trinity Crossing Entertainment Complex” would include an outdoor festival area for at least 27,000 people, a small indoor stage facility for live entertainment, a small outdoor arena for bull riding, cutting horse competitions and similar activities, skybox VIP suites, several themed restaurants and about 40,000 square feet of retail space, according to the document. A second project phase calls for the creation of an equestrian center that would feature horse racing, and options for video gaming if the state government approves such gambling in the future.

To ensure feasibility, the city would lease the Reunion Arena to Hunt for $1 per year until June 30, 2008.

The arena has been a financial drain on the city in recent years, and the proposal is one of many ideas on how to remedy the situation. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers

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