{"id":251927,"date":"2026-04-16T02:59:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/251927\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T02:59:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:59:08","slug":"robert-cluck-mayor-who-brought-dallas-cowboys-to-arlington-dies-at-87","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/251927\/","title":{"rendered":"Robert Cluck, mayor who brought Dallas Cowboys to Arlington, dies at 87"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gettyimages-138144350.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-v-7d0efd03=\"\"\/> article <\/p>\n<p data-v-7d0efd03=\"\">Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck joins GM officials to announce a new stamping facility on Tuesday, January 31, 2012 in Fort Worth, Texas. The expansion will add jobs. (Ron T. Ennis\/Fort Worth Star-Telegram\/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) <\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">ARLINGTON, Texas &#8211; Former Arlington Mayor Dr. Robert N. Cluck, a physician-turned-public official whose leadership helped transform the city into a major sports and economic hub, has passed away at age 87.<\/p>\n<p>   Remembering Dr. Robert Cluck\u2019s impact on Arlington <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KDFW\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\">What we know:<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Cluck served on the Arlington City Council and as Arlington mayor from 2003 to 2015. The City of Arlington announced Cluck died on April 14, 2026.<\/p>\n<p> Visionary behind AT&amp;T Stadium, Dallas Cowboys Move <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/gettyimages-577614182.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/> <\/p>\n<p data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\">27 May 2009 &#8211; Arlington mayor Robert Cluck (left) and owner Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys move a lever to open the stadium doors during the Cowboys Stadium ribbon cutting event in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by James D. Smith\/Icon SMI\/Corbis\/Icon Sp <\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">During his tenure, Arlington experienced significant growth, highlighted by the arrival of the Dallas Cowboys and the opening of AT&amp;T Stadium in 2009. He first helped initiate discussions to bring the Cowboys to Arlington in 2001 while serving on the City Council, reaching out to team owner Jerry Jones.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">He later led efforts that culminated in the construction of the stadium, now one of the most recognizable sports venues in the country. The venue has since become a centerpiece for major sporting events, concerts and international competitions, including upcoming FIFA World Cup matches.<\/p>\n<p> Economic Growth, redevelopment <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KDFW\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Dig deeper:<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Beyond sports, Cluck played a key role in major development projects across Arlington, including the Arlington Highlands shopping center, the Viridian master-planned community and redevelopment efforts in the city\u2019s downtown. He also supported projects tied to the University of Texas at Arlington, including College Park and the Levitt Pavilion.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">His administration emphasized economic development, including efforts to retain the Texas Rangers and secure continued investment in the General Motors Arlington Assembly Plant, which resulted in more than $1.4 billion in upgrades.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">A city park and a prominent space inside AT&amp;T Stadium were later named in Cluck&#8217;s honor.<\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"KDFW\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Mayor Jim Ross described Cluck as a &#8220;visionary&#8221; leader whose efforts reshaped the city\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">&#8220;His ability to build partnerships and see the community\u2019s future potential fundamentally changed our trajectory,&#8221; Ross said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p data-v-871f4c88=\"\">Cluck is survived by his wife, Linda, and three children, along with four grandchildren.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1776308348_744_articles-mayor-robert-cluck-portrait.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: Information in this article was provided by the City of Arlington.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/tag\/us\/tx\/tarrant-county\/arlington\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Arlington<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/tag\/us\/tx\/tarrant-county\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Tarrant County<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/tag\/nfl\/cowboys\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Dallas Cowboys<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/tag\/us\/tx\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox4news.com\/tag\/tx-politics\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-871f4c88=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Texas Politics<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"article Arlington Mayor Robert Cluck joins GM officials to announce a new stamping facility on Tuesday, January 31,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251928,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151,1044,223,80,122,216,395,393],"class_list":{"0":"post-251927","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arlington","8":"tag-arlington","9":"tag-arlington-headlines","10":"tag-arlington-news","11":"tag-cowboys","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-nfl","14":"tag-tarrant-county","15":"tag-tx","16":"tag-tx-politics","17":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251927","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=251927"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251927\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251928"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251927"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251927"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251927"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}