First phase of Cotton Bowl renovations complete as State Fair of Texas begins

KERA | By Penelope Rivera

Published September 27, 2024 at 9:35 AM CDT

The renovations will pause during the State Fair of Texas, which runs from Sept. 27 through Oct. 20.

The historic Cotton Bowl Stadium has some changes coming this year.

The city of Dallas invested $140 million into revamping the nearly 100-year-old stadium with a 2% increase in hotel occupancy taxes Dallas voters approved in 2022. The two-year project began its first phase of renovations in March and were completed before the annual Red River Showdown game between the Texas Longhorns and the Oklahoma Sooners.

The press box has a new national broadcast room and new rooms for home and visiting teams, as well as expansions to existing rooms.

Other notable changes include 14 new escalators and new multi-story entries at two west entrance gates.

The team for the project includes architecture and urban design firm Overland Partners, JE Dunn Construction, the Dallas Parks Department, Fair Park First and the State Fair of Texas.

The next phases of renovations will focus on accessibility for people with disabilities, according to Chris Turner-Nowhere, assistant director for planning, design and facilities with the Dallas Park and Recreation Department.

“Some of those renovations are basically [new] ramps,” Turner-Nowhere said. “We have done a lot of renovations in the restrooms to ensure that we have wider stalls, that we have grab bars and those type of facilities.”

One of the newly renovated media rooms at the Cotton Bowl on Sept. 20, 2024.

Phase two of the project is on hold until the end of this year’s State Fair and will resume in late October.

Many of the renovations are focused on improving the experience for attendees, including more bathrooms and concession stands.

In November, they’ll begin work on demolishing the existing ramps between concourses on the west side of the stadium and building larger ones with more room for concessions with a new kind of grab-and-go concessionary added on main, mid-deck and upper concourses, according to Stefan Kesler, a project manager with the city.

"The biggest positive impact of these renovations is the quicker ways to get in and out of the stadium," Kesler said. "It takes longer than an hour to get out of the stadium, and in situations that may be dangerous, the 14 new escalators will help with that."

Renovations are expected to be completed before the start of next year’s State Fair.

The fair will run until Oct. 20.

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