SAVE FARRINGTON FIELD!

ABOUT:

Farrington Field is an 18,500 seat stadium located in the heart of Fort Worth’s cultural district.  The stadium was constructed in 1939 and named for long time Fort Worth ISD Superintendent E.S. Farrington.

The stadium is located directly across University Ave. from Will Rogers Memorial Center as well as the Kimbell Art Museum and is within walking distance of numerous shopping and dining establishments in the West 7th Street district.

Farrington Field was also the site of Texas Wesleyan's last home game before the team disbanded during World War II.  The Rams defeated the Trinity University Tigers by a final score of 39-0 on November 15, 1941.

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This stadium has been a part of our Northside community for almost 90 years and I believe that its fate should be decision left up to the Fort Worth area community. The community is highly against it being sold or used as another cash revenue stream that we cannot afford. In all due respect, this should be considered a Historic place in Fort Worth. For Football, For Community, For History, For Community.

As I am sure you know, Farrington Field has been a Fort Worth ISD icon since it’s construction in 1939. Thousands of Fort Worth natives have come to the stadium to play football, soccer, run track at the stadium. It has been more than just a sports arena and has put many others in the spotlight. From athletes to homecoming courts and cheerleaders to marching bands, it has been a place where people from all segments of our community, and all walks of life, have come together to show pride in their schools, families, and friends. The stadium’s cold bleachers and warm lights have witnessed hundreds of sporting contests at their purest form, at the amateur level, played by our city’s sons and daughters. For the last 80 years, and from generation to generation, bitter rivalries have been renewed each fall on Friday nights at Farrington Field.
Now our community is considering selling its stadium due to the high value of the land upon which it rests. The sale would certainly net our school district what appears to be a large sum of money in the short term, but next to the district's almost $1 billion dollar budget, the price tag on the stadium is next to NOTHING. The further property tax revenue created for  the district from the real estate developments that would be sure to follow would likely bring even some more income year over year but the income stream would be well under 1% increase to the annual budget.
Putting a price on our history and a price on our traditions is not something that should be taken lightly and is something that our community at large should have a say on. There is much that could be gained from maintaining this iconic stadium and investing further in it. Sports are a unifying institution in our culture. Almost every person plays a sport at some point in their life. Sports help to socialize our youth and foster a sense of community among our population of people that is so incredibly diverse.
Just one such example, is that long prior to the completion of desegregation in Fort Worth in 1973, Farrington Field was home to the football teams of all of Fort Worth’s schools including its African-American schools such as Fort Worth IM Terrell, Dunbar, and Kirkpatrick. This is a unique fact in that it likely made Farrington Field the first desegregated educational facility in the entire city of Fort Worth.
In the era between Farrington Field’s opening in 1939 and 1973, Fort Worth IM Terrell won two Prairie View Interscholastic League 2A State Championships, in 1940 and 1947. Also during that period, Fort Worth Kirkpatrick won the 3A championship in 1962 and 1963, Fort Worth Arlington Heights won the city division state title in 1948, and Fort Worth Dunbar appeared in the 4A championship game in 1962.
Rather than turn our back on all of this history, our community should embrace it as well as the iconic Farrington Field that made it possible. I am hopeful that we can find a way to more effectively utilize the space surrounding and within the stadium, and I believe that our community is certainly up to the task of finding a way to do so, thereby embracing where we have come from as well as where we plan to go.... I hope you can advocate for the community to keep this structure!