Fort Worth ISD now accepting proposals for land surrounding Farrington Field
The Fort Worth school district is restarting its process for developing the land surrounding Farrington Field.
The Fort Worth Independent School District issued a new request for proposals May 29, seeking proposals from developers interested in purchasing and developing some of the tracts of property surrounding Farrington Field stadium.
State-appointed Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter Licata said at a public meeting last month that he wanted to hear residents’ ideas and suggestions for the historic stadium.
“We realized that this decision needs to be made with a lot more information and openness, because I was not comfortable with making a recommendation to the board,” Licata said at the meeting.
The stadium, which was constructed in the 1930s, is beloved by many Fort Worth residents, and is considered a vital testament to Fort Worth’s history. The district clarified in its request for proposals that it is not selling Farrington Field and that “the District has no current plans to dispose of the stadium.”
What’s unclear is whether the district will participate in the tax increment finance zone, also known as a tax increment reinvestment zone, that includes Farrington Field. A tax increment finance zone is a special taxing district where a portion of the area’s property taxes are set aside for projects like upgrading Farrington Field. In the request for proposals, the district said it is considering participating in the TIRZ.
There are seven tracts of land surrounding Farrington Field that the district is accepting proposals for. One, tract six, includes the Jack A. Billingsley Field House. If a developer is proposing to buy tract six, it must “describe its plans to preserve the legacy and historic aspects of Billingsley as a part of its Development Plan,” according to the request for proposals.
In its original request for proposals, issued in January, the Fort Worth school district specified that it was seeking proposals for a “mixed-use, sports-anchored development.” The new request does not specify the purpose of the proposals.
Staff writer Harrison Mantas contributed to this report.
