Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter Licata recently walked into Farrington Field alone.<\/p>\n
As his eyes scanned the historic stadium\u2019s facade, he thanked the gentleman who showed up to unlock the gates to one of the city\u2019s most recognizable landmarks<\/a>. Licata felt it was important to spend an hour walking the hallowed grounds to understand its legacy and its importance to Fort Worth, he told the board of managers Tuesday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n That visit prepared him for a meeting that offered the clearest public look yet at how the district \u2014 now under state-appointed leadership \u2014 plans to move forward on a long-debated redevelopment of the historic stadium<\/a> and surrounding land.\u00a0<\/p>\n District officials and outside legal counsel presented the process behind a request for proposals issued in January<\/a>, aimed at attracting private development around Farrington Field while preserving the stadium itself.<\/p>\n No decisions have been made, officials emphasized.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a project with a single-minded focus,\u201d Brian Newby, managing partner of law firm Cantey Hanger, told the board. \u201cEnsuring that what happens with that facility is in the best interest of not only Fort Worth ISD but the entire city of Fort Worth.\u201d<\/p>\n Newby outlined months of work that began under the elected school board<\/a> before the state takeover shifted authority to the board of managers.<\/p>\n FWISD issued a request for proposals Jan. 20<\/a> seeking developers to purchase and build on seven tracts of district-owned land surrounding Farrington Field as part of a sports-anchored mixed-use project.\u00a0<\/p>\n Two proposals were finalized in March, Newby said.<\/p>\n Those proposals have been scored, and staff are now developing recommendations \u2014 which were presented privately in executive session.<\/p>\n In next steps, the board of managers can choose to move forward, restart the process or reject proposals altogether.<\/p>\n If leaders decide to pursue a deal, they would under Texas law first have to declare the school district\u2019s land \u201csurplus property<\/a>\u201d before negotiating any potential sale or agreements with developers.<\/p>\n \u201cNo determination is going to be made until you have all of the evidence in front of you and you make that decision on behalf of the citizens of Fort Worth,\u201d Newby told the board.\u00a0<\/p>\n The stadium itself is not included in any potential sale, officials said. Any redevelopment would focus on surrounding land while preserving Farrington Field.<\/p>\n A stadium with needs \u2013 and value<\/p>\n The district\u2019s push comes as Farrington Field faces tens of millions of dollars in needed upgrades, including accessibility improvements, elevator access, locker room renovations and safety fixes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are in a wheelchair and you want to go buy a ticket at Farrington Field, you\u2019re going to have a difficult time,\u201d Newby said.<\/p>\n At the same time, its location near the Cultural District makes it one of the district\u2019s most valuable pieces of property \u2014 a dynamic that has fueled debate over its future.<\/p>\n The redevelopment concept aims to pair stadium improvements with adjacent private investment that could help fund those upgrades without tapping classroom dollars.<\/p>\n Last year, Fort Worth City Council approved a tax financing district that could help fund infrastructure improvements<\/a> and a potential renovation of the stadium using future property tax growth in the area.<\/p>\n At Tuesday\u2019s meeting, comments from multiple residents reflected both the emotional ties to the stadium and ongoing concerns about how redevelopment decisions will be made.<\/p>\n Elected trustee Michael Ryan urged the board to consider leasing the land<\/a> instead of selling it.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives us a great income stream,\u201d Ryan said. \u201cAnd if people default on whatever they\u2019ve got going on, we get to take it back over.\u201d<\/p>\n While district officials have said Farrington Field itself would be preserved, the current proposal includes Billingsley Field House, raising questions from preservation advocates about how the historic gymnasium will be treated in any final plan.<\/p>\n Martin Dahl, chairman of Historic Fort Worth\u2019s public affairs committee, called on district leaders to preserve the stadium and the adjacent field house and ensure any development respects their historic designation.<\/p>\n \u201cEnsure any future development respects the national standing these two facilities have already garnered,\u201d Dahl told the board.<\/p>\n Following the presentation, Dahl told the Fort Worth Report he was encouraged that no decisions have been finalized but noted concern that only two proposals were submitted.<\/p>\n \u201cThat kind of ties your hands,\u201d he said. \u201cI would like to see more interest.\u201d<\/p>\n Evan Farrington, grandson of the stadium\u2019s namesake<\/a>, also expressed cautious optimism while noting the limited number of proposals.<\/p>\n \u201cCompetition\u2019s great,\u201d Farrington told the Report. \u201cYou maximize what you get from the property when you have people competing.\u201d<\/p>\n Still, he\u2019s optimistic about the stadium\u2019s redevelopment and said he hopes any plan preserves the stadium\u2019s prominence while creating new opportunities for use.<\/p>\n \u201cYou cannot buy a historic football stadium like that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n For now, district leaders stressed the process is ongoing \u2014 and that the board of managers will ultimately decide whether and how to move forward.<\/p>\n Board President Pete Geren, whose grandfather designed Farrington Field<\/a>, acknowledged the weight of the decision ahead.<\/p>\n He recalled a line from Fort Worth author and sportswriter Dan Jenkins, who once noted that the city is unique in having its high school football stadium and rodeo arena right in its Cultural District.<\/p>\n Geren remembers \u201cglorious days\u201d at Farrington Field \u2014 and some that were less so \u2014 he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe take our charge very seriously in what happens with that crown jewel,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Disclosure: FWISD manager Pete Geren leads the Sid W. Richardson Foundation, a financial supporter of the Fort Worth Report. FWISD manager Laurie George is a member of the Report\u2019s reader advisory council. FWISD manager Courtney Lewis is a member of the Report\u2019s business advisory council. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Matthew Sgroi is an education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at matthew.sgroi@fortworthreport.org<\/a> or @matthewsgroi1<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n This <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/04\/14\/fwisd-outlines-next-steps-for-farrington-field-redevelopment-no-decisions-yet\/”>article<\/a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report<\/a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nd\/4.0\/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<img src=”https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/fortworthreport.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/04\/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&quality=80&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”><\/p>\n <img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/?republication-pixel=true&post=489800&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https:\/\/fortworthreport.org\/2026\/04\/14\/fwisd-outlines-next-steps-for-farrington-field-redevelopment-no-decisions-yet\/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } <\/script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”\/\/cdn.parsely.com\/keys\/fortworthreport.org\/p.js”><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Matthew Sgroi, Fort Worth Report April 14, 2026 Fort Worth ISD Superintendent Peter Licata recently walked into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":250610,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1114,116,118,8257,117,13181],"class_list":{"0":"post-250609","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-lead","9":"tag-fort-worth","10":"tag-fort-worth-headlines","11":"tag-fort-worth-isd","12":"tag-fort-worth-news","13":"tag-takeover"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250609","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=250609"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/250609\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250610"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=250609"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=250609"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=250609"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}