MediterraneanGrocery Wholesalers in Arlington, TX

More than 500 students from across the state will compete this weekend in the first-of-its-kind Texas High School Esports State Championship at Esports Stadium Arlington.

The inaugural state championship this Friday and Saturday is presented by the Texas Scholastic Esports Federation, a teacher-run nonprofit organization whose mission is to make esports an accessible, inclusive and equitable path to college, career and military readiness for all Texas students.

Individual and team participants in the event, which is free and open to the public to attend, will compete for medals and the title of undisputed state champion in League of Legends, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Rocket League, Valorant and Overwatch 2. Arlington ISD’s Martin High School Warriors Rocket League are among the teams competing for top honors.

Danielle Johnson, Texas Scholastic Esports Federation executive director, said participating in esports clubs or teams can help students to make friends, become more engaged in their classes and campus activities, and build valuable skills that translate to college and career readiness.

“It connects an entirely new group of students to their school. About 80% of students that are on their school esports teams have never been involved in anything else at school before,” Johnson said. “Now they are connected. We see a lot of students who find their friends group in esports. They have the same elevated attendance rate as UIL athletes.”

The City’s state-of-the-art Esports Stadium Arlington opened at 1200 Ballpark Way in 2018 and hosts major esports tournaments and related events year-round. The 100,000-square-foot dedicated esports stadium, which features 90-foot LED displays and other equipment designed for spectator gaming events, is an ideal location for the Texas Scholastics Esports Federation’s event, Johnson said.

“We wanted the spectacle of holding this championship at Esports Stadium Arlington. The kids will get to play on the stage where their favorite players play,” she said. “We’re excited!”

Other events during the action-packed weekend include the Intel Inspires Educational Esports Summit for Texas teachers and a Student Leadership Workshop and College Recruiting Event hosted by the National Association of Esports Coaches and Directors for the esports competitors.

“This event is about celebrating the teachers who volunteer their time to keep their kids connected through esports and for the kids who have found their place through esports,” Johnson said.

The Texas Scholastic Esports Federation said the event has been made possible by its sponsors, including Zowie, BenQ Education, Esports Spectrum Industries, Generation Esports, Texas Army National Guard, Lanfest, Lenova Esports and Esports Trade Association.

Here are a few ways you can enjoy your weekend in The American Dream City.

Pictures with Bunny at The Parks Mall

Hop on over to take egg-stra special pictures at The Parks Mall at Arlington with The Bunny from Friday, March 17, 2023 to Saturday, April 8, 2023. Plus, bring your fur fam to their pet photo nights for even more paw-fect moments! Click here to reserve a time slot.

"Soulful Wanderlust" Solo Exhibit at Create Arlington

Dawn Silert’s exhibit “Soulful Wanderlust” runs through Friday, April 14, 2023 at Create Arlington Studios. Gallery Hours are Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. until 6 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday from 12 p.m. until 4 p.m. Dawn is a resident artist at Create Arlington Studios. art is for sale. For more information go to the event page.

Uncrated: Reimagining the Arlington Museum of Art, 1950-2025

From Saturday, April 1, 2023 until Sunday, May 14, 2023, the Arlington Museum of Art will present Uncrated: Reimagining the Arlington Museum of Art, 1950-2025, a retrospective of the museum’s evolution and a celebration of art and community partnerships through the decades. In the early 1900s, civic leaders in Arlington, Texas began creating a vision for promoting the visual arts and arts education as important community values. Today, the Arlington Museum of Art is the legacy of their leadership. Click here for ticket information.

Noises Off

Theatre Arlington is shifting gears from “the mother of all musicals” to what some consider one of the funniest comedies ever written for the stage, Noises Off by Michael Frayn. This out-of-control play within a play opens Friday, March 31, 2023 and is the second production in the theater’s 50th anniversary season. Frayn’s hilarious look at the theater and those who make its magic happen – both inside and out – is also celebrating its own 40th anniversary of making audiences cry with laughter, having premiered on Broadway in 1983. Noises Off is a classic British farce about an under-rehearsed and overworked cast and crew attempting to stage the fictional sex farce, Nothing On. This bumbling cast and crew have more personal dramatic flair than professional as their shenanigans and chaos rule onstage and backstage. Will all the slamming doors, dropped pants, lost props and technical difficulties create such a disaster that it jinxes the old saying, “The show must go on?” Performances will continue through Sunday, April 16th with the following schedule: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2 p.m. Learn more about the production by clicking here.

9th Annual South Street Art Festival

The 9th Annual South Street Art Festival, the longest running and only fine art festival in the Downtown Cultural Arts District of Arlington, returns April 7-9, 2023 in the 300-500 blocks of E. South Street. See and buy from up to 100 local, regional and national artists selling work in one of 14 different categories. Art lovers and collectors can stroll down South Street seeing booth after booth of one of a kind original art from skilled artisans. Gather your friends and family and enjoy a weekend of art and music in Downtown Arlington. You may bring lawn chairs to sit and enjoy the live performances. No Outside coolers are allowed on festival grounds. For more details, including festival hours, click here.

Kin Faux at Texas Live!

Based out of San Antonio, Texas, Kin Faux is rockin' on stage at Troy's inside of Texas Live! 8:30 p.m. Friday, April 7, 2023. Doors open at 5 p.m. Food and beverage service will be available during show. You can purchase tickets by clicking here.

¡Viva La Fiesta!

Celebrate ¡Viva La Fiesta! with delicious foods, live shows, and more starting Friday, April 7, 2023 until Sunday, May 7, 2023 at Six Flags Over Texas. There’s nothing quite like celebrating ¡Viva La Fiesta! at Six Flags Over Texas – a cultural celebration with live performances of Ballet Folklórico, Mariachi band and Tejano music. The park will come alive with folk art, colorful festoons, piñatas, papel picado décor, and more!

North Texas Soccer Club Faces Whitecaps FC 2

The North Texas Soccer Club takes on Whitecaps FC 2 7:30 p.m. Sunday, April 9, 2023 at Choctaw Stadium. Learn more about ticket prices by clicking here.

The Texas Rangers today unveiled their Nike City Connect uniforms, which honor the remarkable story of how the organization landed in Arlington, Texas, through the rich baseball history of Dallas and Fort Worth, the significance of April 21 in Texas, and the tireless efforts of the late Mayor of Arlington, Tom Vandergriff.

The Rangers will wear the uniforms for the first time on Friday, April 21 when they host the Oakland Athletics at Globe Life Field at 7:05 p.m. The team will wear the uniforms the following night against Oakland, and every remaining Friday home game during the 2023 season.

During the 1950s, Dallas and Fort Worth had a pair of professional baseball teams – the Dallas Eagles and the Fort Worth Panthers/Cats. The two cities were fierce rivals and couldn’t even agree on a shared airport. At that time, Arlington was a relatively small city, but Vandergriff had major league dreams. In 1964, construction began on Turnpike Stadium in Arlington. Just one year later in 1965, Dallas and Fort Worth came together like never before with a professional baseball team in Arlington – the Dallas-Fort Worth Spurs were born. Long before Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport finally opened, fans attended Turnpike Stadium in record numbers, proving Vandergriff’s vision correct. Just a short while later, Turnpike Stadium was expanded to a seating capacity of over 35,000, renamed Arlington Stadium, and debuted as the new home of the Texas Rangers.

April 21, 1972 was the date the Texas Rangers franchise played its first game at Arlington Stadium. The event was years in the making, and the culmination of Mayor Vandergriff’s efforts to bring Major League Baseball to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. April 21, 1972 was exactly 136 years after Texas gained its independence in the Battle of San Jacinto, and exactly 104 years after the first championship baseball game in Texas.

The Rangers’ City Connect uniform celebrates the team’s origin story and the Texas spirit that brought Dallas and Fort Worth together in Arlington – through baseball. The uniforms include the following features:

The Jersey

The Pants

The Cap

The Accessories

The Rangers’ entire City Connect story and detailed uniforms can be viewed at Rangers.com/CityConnect.

The Texas Rangers Grand Slam Team Store is the exclusive venue in Texas for the City Connect collection until April 21. Fans are also able to purchase the City Connect collection at MLB.com, the Nike App and Nike.com, NewEra.com, Stance.com and the MLB Flagship Store in New York City. The City Connect collection will be available throughout Globe Life Field beginning April 21.

The Nike MLB City Connect Series launched in 2021 and was formed to celebrate the connection between a specific club and its city. The Rangers are the second MLB team to join the City Connect Series in 2023.

On April 21, a pair of promotions presented by Globe Life highlight the uniform debut as the first 30,000 fans take home the commemorative City Connect Program giveaway and the first 15,000 collect the City Connect-themed Marcus Semien Bobblehead giveaway. The Semien bobblehead is the first of a three-part City Connect bobblehead series also featuring Corey Seager on Friday, May 19 and Jacob deGrom on Friday, June 16. Additionally, as part of the Rangers Poster Series, a City Connect edition poster designed by DFW artist Chris Perez will be available for purchase at the Authentics kiosk behind section 134. All poster proceeds benefit the Texas Rangers Baseball Foundation.

The team is partnering with a pair of Dallas-Fort Worth art venues for City Connect launch parties on April 21 and 22. Fans are invited to ArtPark Trinity Groves (331 Singleton Blvd, Dallas) from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. on the 21st where the City Connect collection will be available for purchase and Rangers fans will be treated to a special guest appearance by National Baseball Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez, who will take pictures and sign autographs (one per person) from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

On April 22, the launch party moves to the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival (Corner of Main Street and E 2nd Street, Fort Worth) from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. The City Connect collection will be available for purchase and Rodriguez will be present for pictures and autographs (one per person) from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Similar to the 21st, the first 30,000 fans will take home the commemorative City Connect Program giveaway, presented by Globe Life, on Saturday, April 22 and the first 10,000 fans will receive the Arlington Stadium Replica giveaway, presented by Coca-Cola.

Tickets for all remaining home games during the 2023 season can be purchased at rangers.com, by phone at 972-RANGERS, or at the Southeast Box Office at Globe Life Field.

One restaurant failed and four received low scores in the latest Arlington health inspections, according to city data. No restaurant was closed down.

There were 61 inspections from April 23 to April 29.

Arlington inspections are based on a 100-point system. A score of 100 is considered perfect, and a score of 70 is considered to be extremely poor.

In July, Fort Worth restaurants have had more than 250 health code violations. These seven violations are the most common in Fort Worth restaurants. By Candi Bolden

S&S Cheesesteaks at 913 W. Pioneer Parkway failed with a score of 70.

Arlington inspection reports do not list specific violations.

Four restaurants, including S&S Cheesesteaks, received scores of 75 or less. The others were:

Re-inspections are conducted for restaurants that score 75 or less.

Four restaurants had follow-up inspections:

Here are the inspection scores and violations for restaurants within the city limits of Arlington for April 23rd - April 29th, 2023. A score of 100 is a perfect score and 70 is considered to be extremely poor. Reinspections will be conducted for restaurants that score 75 or less. If serious health and sanitation violations are considered an imminent health hazard, the restaurant will be closed until the identified health hazard has been mitigated. To search the restaurant inspections, type in a restaurant name. You can also sort by score.

Name

Type

Address

Score

Attempt

Date

S&S CHEESESTEAKS

Fast Food

70

Fail

4/27/23

OPIUM ARLINGTON

Bar / Lounge

3200 JUSTISS DR

74

Pass with Followup

4/29/23

Taqueria El Padrecito

Fast Food

2020 E PIONEER PWY SUITE 200

75

Pass with Followup

4/24/23

Hurtado BBQ

Full Service Restaurant

205 E FRONT ST

75

Pass with Followup

4/26/23

TAQUERIA LA POTOSINA

Moderate Food Service

825 E SANFORD ST

79

Pass with Followup

4/29/23

Williams Chicken

Fast Food

901 W ARBROOK BLV

80

Pass without Followup

4/25/23

CHICKEN EXPRESS

Fast Food

6300 US 287 HWY

83

Pass without Followup

4/27/23

SONIC #4632

Fast Food

2121 E LAMAR BLV

84

Pass without Followup

4/25/23

One Love Caribbean Restaurant & Lounge

Full Service Restaurant

2315 S COOPER ST

86

Pass without Followup

4/24/23

KRISPY CATCH

Fast Food

2356 SE GREEN OAKS BLV SUITE 186

87

Pass without Followup

4/25/23

/ 7

Source: Data Provided by City of Arlington • Last Updated 5/2/2023

A Flourish table

Steve Wilson [email protected]

This story was originally published May 2, 2023, 6:30 PM.

Update from 10 a.m. March 29

Water distribution system levels in the City of Arlington have returned to normal levels following an interruption in water supplied to the City’s John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant on Tuesday. Arlington residents are encouraged to resume their typical water use. Water quality has not been affected by this situation. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Arlington Water Utilities asked residents to limit water use Tuesday morning in response to a break in a water line that supplies its John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant. The Tarrant Regional Water District has switched Arlington to another water source while repairs to the pipeline are made. No further pipeline service interruptions are expected in relation to the break.

Update from 5:30 a.m. March 29

Arlington Water Utilities continues to ask residents to limit water use until 10 a.m. this morning due to an interruption in water supplied to the City’s John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant on Tuesday. Tarrant Regional Water District suffered a break Tuesday morning on a pipeline that brings water from Cedar Creek Reservoir to Arlington. TRWD has switched Arlington’s water supply to another water source. However, the City of Arlington is asking residents to conserve water while water towers and other water system storage are replenished.

Until 10 a.m. today, we are requesting residents take the following actions: • Do not use sprinklers or other irrigation systems • Limiting your household water uses such as laundry and toilet flushes and take shorter showers. • Do not fill bathtubs or large containers with water, as that will cause an immediate drop in water supplies.

We apologize for this inconvenience. Arlington water remains safe to drink. Water quality has not been affected by this situation. Arlington began asking residents to limit water use Tuesday morning in response to a break in a water line that supplies its John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant. TRWD posted a statement here about that break: https://www.trwd.com/update-on-water-pipeline-break-near-us-287-in-mansfield/

Update from 4:53 p.m. March 28 Tarrant Regional Water District has asked Arlington Water Utilities to continue limiting its use of water from the TRWD system through tonight. This will allow sufficient time for an alternate source of water to come fully online. To maintain water pressure and continue to replenish water supplies, the City of Arlington is asking residents to continue to limit water usage until 10 a.m. Wednesday morning.

We apologize for this inconvenience.

This means:

• Do not use sprinklers or other irrigation systems • Limiting your household water uses such as laundry and toilet flushes and take shorter showers. • Do not fill bathtubs or large containers with water, as that will cause an immediate drop in water supplies.

Arlington began asking residents to limit water use Tuesday morning in response to a break in a water line that supplies its John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant. Arlington water remains safe to drink. Water quality has not been affected by this situation.

Click here to read TRWD's statement about the supply interruption break.

Update from 12:28 p.m. March 28

The Tarrant Regional Water District has successfully transitioned Arlington’s John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant to another water source while repairs to the Cedar Creek Reservoir pipeline are made. Please continue to limit water use over the next few hours while Arlington Water Utilities replenishes the supply of treated water in its distribution system.

This means: • Do not use sprinklers or other irrigation systems • Limiting your household water uses such as laundry and toilet flushes • Do not fill bathtubs or large containers with water, as that will cause an immediate drop in water supplies.

Arlington water remains safe to drink. Water quality has not been affected by this situation. We anticipate water supplies to be at normal rates by 6 p.m. this evening.

Original message from 10:24 a.m. March 28

Arlington Water Utilities has been informed of an issue with the pipeline that brings water from the Cedar Creek Reservoir to its John F. Kubala Water Treatment Plant. Tarrant Regional Water District is switching Arlington to another source as repairs are made.

While this switch is being made, we are asking that Arlington residents and businesses limit their water use to essential needs during the next four hours. This means:

Residents may notice a change in pressure over the next few hours. Water in the City’s distribution system will be enough to meet current needs while the switch to another source is being made if usage does not increase. We anticipate these conditions to last only about four hours.

Taylor Swift does the Anti-Hero challenge

@_katesss

What surprise songs did Taylor Swift perform on The Eras Tour? Here's the full list.

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Taylor Swift's The Eras Tour is finally upon us, and just as fans had hoped, Taylor has confirmed that she will be performing surprise songs on every single night of the tour.

If you've been a fan of Taylor for a while, you'll know that she always includes a surprise song in her tour set lists. The tradition goes all the way back to The Red Tour, and technically even further back to the Speak Now World Tour if you include the surprise covers she performed during that era.

With the tour now officially underway, the surprise songs are back, back, back again. There are 44 songs in the setlist already, which means she's got over 180 songs to choose from for the surprise slot.

According to reports from fans who attended the first Eras Tour show in Glendale, AZ, Taylor teased that she will only play each secret song once, unless she messes it up.

So, with that piece of information in mind, what surprise songs has Taylor Swift already performed on The Eras Tour and what can fans expect for the rest of the dates? Here's the full list. (We'll update this article after each tour date.)

What surprise songs did Taylor Swift perform on tour?

Every surprise song that Taylor has performed on The Eras Tour so far:

The first surprise song that Taylor unveiled during the opening show of the tour was 'mirrorball' from folklore, and went on to surprise the crowd with the opening track from her debut album: 'Tim McGraw'. The next night, she followed that up with another folklore track ('this is me trying'), and fan favourite 'State of Grace' from Red (Taylor's Version).

Taylor will be playing two surprise songs per show. With 52 dates on the U.S. leg of the tour, Taylor could go through an extra 104 songs if she continues to play two a night!

As of May 6th, Taylor has performed 6 surprise songs from Red (Taylor's Version), 6 from Fearless (Taylor's Version), 4 from Midnights, 5 from Taylor Swift, 4 from 1989, 4 from Speak Now, 3 from folklore, 2 from evermore, 1 from Lover and 1 from Reputation.

What surprise songs will Taylor Swift perform again?

Taylor confirmed she'll be performing 'Death By a Thousand Cuts' again after she messed up the lyrics. She also teased that 'Clean' will make another appearance: "I think I could probably have done it better in a higher key so that's technically a mess up."

During night 2 in Tampa, Taylor also revealed that Midnights is exempt from the surprise song rules, so she'll be playing certain tracks multiple times throughout the tour: "If it's on Midnights, I can do it however many times I want..."

On April 29th at the second Atlanta show, Taylor confirmed she'll have to play 'Gorgeous' again after messing it up.

On May 5th, Taylor performed 'Nothing New' for the first time with Phoebe Bridgers, but the song was not one of the two surprise songs. It's unclear if Taylor will perform the song again later down the line as a surprise song, but it is possible... Watch this space!

READ MORE: 59 Taylor Swift lyrics for your Eras Tour Instagram captions

Will Taylor Swift perform any Speak Now or debut tracks?

After unveiling her setlist on opening night, fans couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that Taylor only included one Speak Now song ('Enchanted') and one song from her self-titled debut album ('Tim McGraw'). It turns out that 'Tim McGraw' was also a surprise song – it wasn't in the actual setlist.

While some are hoping that they'll turn up as surprise songs along the way ('Our Song', 'Cold as You' and 'A Place In This World' have now popped up as a surprise song, and 'Ours', 'Speak Now', 'Mean' and 'Sparks Fly' have already been performed, too), others have speculated that Taylor is avoiding performing those tracks within the official setlist until she's able to release her own versions.

Taylor has finally announced that Speak Now (Taylor's Version) will be released on July 7th, so it's possible that she may update the main setlist with those songs later down the line, if she feels like it's something she wants to do!

Read more Taylor Swift news here:

To many people in Arlington, the idea seemed like a far-fetched gamble at best.

At worst, it was irresponsibly ludicrous.

The city, which was grappling in 2004 with budget shortfalls, stagnant business and the threat of falling behind its fast-growing suburban neighbors, had a chance to land the Dallas Cowboys. The catch: Voters had to agree to levy taxes on themselves to help pay for Jerry Jones’ $650 million new stadium.

The voters came through in what was described at the time as a pivotal moment in the city’s history.

“Decades from now,” a Star-Telegram editorial read the day after the referendum, “Tuesday’s ‘yes’ vote authorizing construction of a new, state-of-the-art Dallas Cowboys stadium in Arlington may well be recognized as the moment the city’s destiny changed.”

Fast forward two decades, and the city of Arlington appears to once again be having one of those pivotal moments, thanks in large part to how that stadium did indeed prove to be a powerful economic catalyst.

Nearly $1 billion in new development is under construction in Arlington’s entertainment district, anchored by the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium, the Texas Rangers’ Globe Life Field and the Six Flags theme parks. Those projects include a hotel and convention center, a national museum and a luxury apartment high-rise.

And there’s talk of more residential towers in the district, as well as converting an aging shopping center into a ritzier mixed-use development similar to Fort Worth’s Clearfork.

“It is really transformational what’s happened,” says Maggie Campbell, who is president and CEO of the Downtown Arlington business organization.

The once tiny farming town that sprouted after the Civil War was considered for decades as just a suburb to its larger neighbors — one without even a real downtown. Now Arlington has reached that tipping point where it is seeing significant outside investment, Campbell said.

What’s happening in Arlington is undoubtedly part of the overall growth frenzy across North Texas. The Dallas-Fort Worth metro is the fastest growing in the U.S., adding nearly 100,000 people a year. Other smaller cities in the Metroplex are also seeing explosive development, including Frisco, which recently announced a first-of-its-kind Universal Parks & Resorts theme park as part of its $10 billion future Fields development.

But while much of the growth on the outer reaches of the Metroplex is new construction on empty land, Arlington’s projects in the city center are more about redevelopment of what was built in the early years of suburbia.

City leaders say their vision is for Arlington to be a model live-work-play community that’s walkable and easy for long-term residents and first-time visitors to enjoy. Arlington’s entertainment district is about a mile from the city’s traditional business district, which is largely low density. The city wants to see a denser downtown with more of a connection to the entertainment district.

Mayor Jim Ross says there’s room for both districts to grow.

“We certainly want to bridge a gap between downtown and the entertainment district,” Ross said. “They’re not that far apart and literally within walking distance. We’re getting there. As the entertainment grows and downtown grows, there’s going to be some overlap and, consequently, some cross pollination that happens with the people that visit each of those. We’re excited about that.”

Ross said he thinks this will happen if both districts keep adding office space, multi-family housing, retail and restaurants — and marrying the different uses with a balance.

“I don’t believe this is the beginning of the transformation,” Ross said. “We’ve been into this for a while now, for a number of years, long before I became mayor. Our goal is to continue that significant momentum now.”

In mid-February, a co-working space called Spark Arlington held a grand opening in Choctaw Stadium, the former home of the Texas Rangers that is now used for soccer, football and repurposed offices in the entertainment district.

Spark’s concept of collaborative workspace aims at local entrepreneurs and innovators. Nearly 25 companies are already signed on.

Not far away, the luxury apartment building One Rangers Way is under construction. Some of the future tenants may decide to live here because they can work at Spark — and walk to bars and restaurants at Texas Live! after hours.

Additionally, mayor and other city leaders say there has been vision discussion of one day adding a high-rise office tower to one corner of Choctaw Stadium.

“It’s a vision that has legs,” Ross said. “We’re not at the planning stage yet. Nothing has been permitted, but there is a lot of talk about some of the extraordinary things we can do.”

Ross is also about to open his second restaurant on the top floor of the stadium where a TGI Fridays restaurant used to be. Hearsay Arlington will be a fine dining restaurant with Southern cuisine, a live blues and jazz lounge and a rooftop cigar bar.

The city owns Choctaw Stadium and still leases it to the Rangers. Ray Davis, who is the Rangers’ managing partner and majority owner, spoke at the Spark grand opening and said the 30,000-square-foot space is another example of how Choctaw is being repurposed as a vital part of development.

The stadium also is used for the Arlington Renegades of the XFL, the North Texas Soccer Club and the Dallas Jackals of Major League Rugby.

The One Rangers Way apartments are expected to open in 2024, with leases starting at $1,350. If the project does well, more multi-family development would be a logical progression, said Rob Matwick, the Texas Rangers executive vice president of business operations.

“Once we are in a position to begin leasing the residential units, assuming that goes as well as I believe it will, it’s logical that you would begin to look at next phases,” Matwick said. “We’ve talked about next phases potentially, and we’ve looked at where they could potentially go. When we’re a little further along and start our leasing process, I think that will begin to snowball and build upon the first building.”

The upcoming apartment complex is a partnership between the Texas Rangers and development partner The Cordish Companies.

“We are intentionally developing a wide array of unit types and sizes from two-bedroom penthouses to studio apartment homes to ensure we are appealing to all types of residents from young professionals to sports fans to families,” said Marnie Sauls, executive director of residential management for The Cordish Companies. “This space marries a luxury living experience with the excitement and energy of the Entertainment District, giving our residents the unique opportunity to be able to walk to Rangers and Cowboys games.”

Investment in Arlington doesn’t stop with the redevelopment of Choctaw. Nearly $1 billion of new development is under construction in the Entertainment District, including Loews Arlington Hotel and Convention Center.

The $550 million hotel is expected to open in early 2024 with two resort-style swimming pools, a beach, an upscale pan-Asian restaurant, a water slide and more. The hotel will have more than 880 rooms and connect via a skybridge to Live! by Loews Arlington, an existing hotel across the street.

The Arlington Convention Center will have 150,000 square feet of meeting space and 66,000 square feet of outdoor space. The entire project will create 500 to 600 additional jobs.

“Bringing this convention center with this hotel here puts us on a level that we’ve never been before,” said Ross in July at the hotel’s topping off ceremony. “It gives us an opportunity to compete with every single metropolitan area in the country.”

Near the hotel and convention center will be the National Medal of Honor Museum, opening in late 2024. The museum will feature a Bell Textron helicopter, 30 medals of honor and biographies and stories of recipients. It is expected to attract 650,000 to 800,000 visitors a year.

The current $1 billion expansion in the Entertainment District is only the next phase of a greater $4 billion vision by the city of Arlington, the Texas Rangers, The Cordish Companies and Loews Hotels & Co.

To the north of the entertainment district, at Interstate 30 and Collins Street, the Lincoln Square shopping center will likely see a major redevelopment.

The property was recently acquired by a Fort Worth-based mixed-use investor, Trademark Property Co. Early plans indicate the traditional retail and restaurant center could shift toward apartments.

Arlington’s mayor described it as similar to The Shops at Clearfork in Fort Worth, which has mid-rise apartment and office buildings with street-level retail.

“There’s going to be some nice multi-family in there, but there’s also going to be a lot of mixed use — office space, restaurants, retail and there may be another hotel in there,” Ross said. “It’s going to be a good utilization of the space.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2023, 5:00 AM.

ARLINGTON (CBSNewsTexas.com) — Swifties rejoice, the wait is over to see Taylor Swift perform here in North Texas. Arlington will be busy this weekend with Swift's Eras Tour at AT&T Stadium, the Texas Rangers opening their 2023 season at Globe Life Field, and the XFL Renegades at Choctaw Stadium. Be sure to check out this article for what you can expect for traffic, weather, and entry to the concert this weekend.

Ahead of her stop in Arlington, Swift made a "generous donation" to the Tarrant Area Food Bank. As thanks for helping provide healthy meals for families in need, the organization has temporarily rebranded to Taylor Area Food Bank.

That's not the only rebrand made ahead of Swift's Arlington shows. The city has changed the name of Randol Mill Road to Taylor Swift Way for the weekend of March 31. This is part of the celebrations taking place all weekend as a part of "Taylor Swift Weekend," decreed by Arlington Mayor Jim Ross.

The sign for Taylor Swift Way can be found at the northwest corner of AT&T Stadium from Friday to Sunday. This is on the corner of Collins Street and Randol Mill Road. In addition to the street name change, the sculptures in from of City Hall in Downtown Arlington will be lit "Red" taking inspiration from the singer's song. To further solidify its "Reputation" as one of Swift's biggest fans, Ross will present Swift with a Key to the City.

Arlington Animal Services will be hoping for "Swift" pet adoptions this weekend with an adoption special in honor of the singer and cat mom. Pet adoption fees will be priced at $40 and $9 for VIP pets. The prices reference Swift's 40 Top 10 hits and nine No. 1 hits.

After having the "Best Day Ever" at her concert this weekend, fans can look forward to reliving the memories by visiting The Eras Tour Collection exhibit set for the Arlington Museum of Art this summer. The exhibit will be open from June 3 - September 24, 2023. Tickets for the exclusive exhibition go on sale to the general public at 10:00 a.m. According to the museum's website, highlights of the exhibition include costumes worn by Swift from her record-breaking albums.

The Arlington Museum of Art aims to attract even more art lovers and higher-profile exhibitions, including immersive exhibits, when it opens within the City’s vibrant Entertainment District early next year.

The Museum, a Downtown cultural destination for more than 30 years, has sought a larger, more flexible space that would allow it to accommodate a wider variety of exhibits and educational offerings, officials said. Through an agreement approved by the Arlington City Council on Tuesday, the Museum plans to relocate to the City’s Esports Stadium and Expo Center, located near Choctaw Stadium and the future National Medal of Honor Museum, in early 2024. The special use agreement will provide the Arlington Museum of Art with approximately 48,000 square feet of flexible space inside the Expo Center compared to the 5,500 square feet available its current home at 201 W. Main St., which is a repurposed store originally built in the 1950s.

"In the last few years, the Arlington Museum of Art has honed its skills as a museum that never stands still," said Chris Hightower, President and CEO of the Arlington Museum of Art. "Every three to four months, we transform our entire space with completely new art exhibitions. Now we have an opportunity to scale way up."

Arlington attracts more than 14.5 million visitors each year thanks largely to the amenities and assets within The District, which is home to Globe Life Field, AT&T Stadium, Texas Live!, Six Flags Over Texas and more. The Museum’s special use agreement for 1200 Ballpark Way complements existing or soon-to-open venues and attractions there. The agreement, which does not affect the 100,000-square-foot Esports Stadium Arlington in the same building, also provides an adaptive use for the City’s older convention space. Arlington’s new 200,000-square-foot Convention Center is set to open as part of the 888-room Loews Arlington Hotel in February 2024.

“The momentum we have seen in Arlington’s Entertainment District over the last five years has been incredible, which is one of the primary reasons this is such a great fit for the Arlington Museum of Art,” said Jay Warren, board chair for the Museum. “There is a great synergy here. The museum will be in a higher visibility location to attract more visitors which will enable us to bring in higher caliber exhibits. At the same time, the Museum’s programming will offer Arlington’s visitors with another option, expanding The District’s offerings.”

Interior improvements to the Expo Center are set to begin this October and be complete by next February. As part of the agreement with the City, the Museum plans to invest approximately $2.9 million to make interior improvements to the Expo Center space, while the City plans to allocate approximately $1.9 million in next year’s budget to improve the common, shared corridor between the Esports Stadium Arlington and the Museum’s new space as well as the western façade of the building.

In support of creating the infrastructure for a state-of-the-art museum, the Museum launched Phase I of its “Outside the Lines: Reimagining the AMA” capital campaign. In Phase II, the campaign will expand its scope to include extensive improvements for the building’s exterior.

Cultural tourism represents a record-breaking $1 trillion for the U.S. economy, and more than 850 million people from around the world visit U.S. museums annually. On average, visitors to the Museum’s major exhibitions hail from at least 40 different states and more than 20 different countries. Last year, the Museum saw its attendance increase 46% over 2021, and Museum officials say they expect exhibition attendance to grow exponentially in a larger space that will allow for traditional, next generation, interactive and immersive exhibitions.

"We are so grateful to the City of Arlington for recognizing that investing in the arts means investing in economic prosperity," Hightower said. "Our new location will allow the museum to not only serve our community but attract between $33 to $38 million annually in non-local spending by 2028."

Under the agreement, the Museum will pay the City a base annual fee of $650,000 plus a revenue share of 10% of each paid ticket up to $3. Arlington will maintain ownership of the building and its ability to book rental business at the Expo Center during any downtime in the Museum’s programming. As a designated “super user” of the Expo Center space, the Arlington Museum of Art will receive priority booking rights to book individual exhibits for several months at a time.

"The new AMA footprint will be eight times larger than our current one,” Hightower said, “allowing us to blend traditional, immersive, interactive and evolving art forms in ways that will inspire, entertain, engage and reflect our community and our world."

Caption: In support of creating the infrastructure for a state-of-the-art museum, the Museum launched Phase I of its “Outside the Lines: Reimagining the AMA” capital campaign. For a contemplated future Phase II, the campaign will expand its scope to include extensive improvements for the building’s exterior. These renderings show what those possible Phase II improvements may look like.

The City of Arlington Parks and Recreation Department recently earned two awards from the Texas Recreation and Park Society (TRAPS), including the prestigious Texas Gold Medal Award – Class I. The honors were announced at the annual TRAPS Institute & Expo in Frisco, Texas, on March 2, 2023.

Each year, TRAPS recognizes and honors individuals and organizations that have rendered significant contributions to the field of parks and recreation. The Gold Medal is awarded in five classes based on population, with Class I consisting of cities with a population of more than 250,000.

The biggest achievement that a department can earn on the state level, the Texas Gold Medal Award honors park agencies for excellence in the field of recreation and park management for the past three (3) years. The Texas Gold Medal Awards are modeled after those of the National Recreation and Park Association (NRPA).

Arlington last won the TRAPS Gold Medal Award in 2015 and the NRPA Gold Medal in 2018.

"This award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to providing top-quality facilities and services that cater to our diverse community," said Arlington Parks and Recreation Director James Orloski. “Achieving this honor is simply not possible without the hard work and dedication of our employees, and this is a testament to their achievements. I’d also like to thank our city's leadership, community stakeholders and our community for their support of our parks system. It is an honor for our department to be recognized as a parks and recreation industry leader in our state, and we could not deliver exceptional recreational opportunities and great parks that enrich our residents' lives without their support.”

Arlington also earned the 2023 TRAPS Maintenance Achievement Award. This award recognizes creativity or innovation in the development of unique equipment to solve a particular problem; the development or discovery of a material or chemical to solve a problem; or the development and implementation of a system or process to maintain a park, building, pool or piece of equipment more efficiently or effectively.

The department was recognized with this award for its development and implementation of the “Bakari Williams Protocol.” The City of Arlington made significant investments in the installation of health and safety equipment at its public pools and splash pads in 2022, as well as new policies, practices and protocols, which are designed to improve visitors’ safety and experience while at Arlington aquatics facilities.

About Arlington Parks and Recreation

The mission of the Arlington Parks and Recreation Department is to provide quality facilities and services that are responsive to a diverse community and sustained with a focus on partnerships, innovation and environmental leadership. Arlington is a vibrant city that enjoys a high quality of life through great parks and exceptional recreational opportunities. These services provide a foundation for the physical, social, economic, and environmental viability and well-being of the community. For more info, please visit naturallyfun.org.