Dallas locks in cash for design of bridge
Cuban, Hicks, Perot Jr. aid project near arena
The Dallas Morning News
May 8, 2001
Author: Victoria Loe Hicks; Staff Writer
Estimated printed pages: 3

Sports impresarios Mark Cuban, Tom Hicks and Ross Perot Jr. will reach into their pockets Tuesday to land a recruit who may not know a slam dunk from a slap shot.
Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava will get nearly $6 million - supplied partly by the three team owners - to design the bridge that will extend Woodall Rodgers Freeway across the Trinity River, sources confirmed Monday. Mayor Ron Kirk is to announce the successful culmination of the fund-raising effort Tuesday.

Neither Mr. Kirk nor the team owners responded to requests for comment Monday.

Two years ago, as he committed himself to raising the money, Mr. Kirk said: "It will be difficult. It will be controversial. ... But this can really change the landscape and the culture of our city forever."

Sources did not reveal how much each donor is giving. Before this week, the city was $2.7 million short in raising the design money for Mr. Calatrava.

Mr. Cuban revealed his interest in the bridge after Mr. Kirk began courting him this year. Mr. Hicks' and Mr. Perot's names had not been publicly linked with the project.

The suspension bridge, shown in conceptual drawings as a phalanx of gleaming white arches, will serve as a backdrop for the American Airlines Center, the Mavericks' and Stars' new $350 million home, which opens this summer.

Mr. Hicks owns the Stars. Mr. Cuban is the majority owner of the Mavericks; Mr. Perot holds a minority stake in the basketball team.

Government money will cover the more than $70 million cost of building the bridge. But the design money - save for $1.2 million in city arts money - had to come from private donors.

An anonymous donor stepped forward in November 1999 with the first $2 million gift, but after that, the campaign stalled for more than a year. Mr. Kirk had promised the state transportation agency that the money would be in place by March so the bridge's construction would not be delayed.

Tuesday's gifts will come with no stipulation of naming rights, sources said. The bridge will not be named for Mr. Perot, Mr. Hicks or Mr. Cuban.

Others contributing toward the $5.9 million cost include at least one other anonymous donor, the Meadows Foundation, the SBC Foundation, and several residents who responded to public appeals for money.

The city is shouldering $125 million of the new arena's cost, with the money coming from increased hotel and rental-car taxes. The team owners also will be repaid for at least $12 million in streets and other improvements they are installing near the center.

The city will own the building, and the teams will rent it for 30 years.

Mr. Perot and Mr. Hicks are partners in a venture to surround the new sports palace with 60 acres of shops, restaurants, hotels, office buildings and urban residences. Mr. Cuban, who bought a controlling interest in the Mavericks last year from Mr. Perot, is not involved in the larger real estate venture, dubbed Victory.

Mr. Calatrava's sleek, futuristic creations are the antithesis of arena architect David Schwarz's work, which evokes nostalgia for earlier eras.

The Spanish architect has proposed designing four more bridges across the Trinity. Two would replace the timeworn spans on Interstates 30 and 35E. The others would be part of a proposed toll road inside the levees.

Some people have questioned whether the city should spend tens of millions of dollars on "signature" bridges rather than on better streets or neighborhood revival.

Mr. Kirk and Mr. Calatrava argue that the bridges will provide a psychological lift and symbolically unite neglected southern and western sectors with the rest of the city.

The Woodall Rodgers bridge will have six continuous lanes of traffic, with two more lanes for merging traffic. It will connect to Beckley Boulevard and Singleton Avenue on the river's west side.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2003 and be completed in 2006 or 2007.

Besides the famous donors, people who gave money for the design work are: Jo Fay Godbey, Jerry Spencer, Gerald Hargett, Phyllis Moore, Alfred Taylor and Mr. and Mrs. Oran Wilson.
  Caption:
MAP(S): / ILLUSTRATION(S): (Staff Graphic) A VISION FOR THE BRIDGE.
Edition:  THIRD
Section:  NEWS
Page:  1A
Copyright 2001 The Dallas Morning News
Record Number:  4262382