Dallas Cowboys Must Reveal Stadium Plans--Arlington Taxpayers Want to Know

'The Dallas Cowboys must release architectural drawings of its new stadium to the public, according to a ruling issued by the Texas attorney general’s office on Tuesday.

• The team had argued that stadium plans should remain confidential because it could reveal the stadium’s vulnerability to terrorism and could cause substantial competitive harm to the Cowboys. The team and the city of Arlington, which received the public information request from the Star-Telegram three months ago, has 30 days to challenge the attorney general’s ruling by filing a lawsuit in Travis County.

Although the attorney general’s office agreed with the Cowboys that the stadium is “critical infrastructure” that should be protected by the Texas Homeland Security Act, it rejected the team’s arguments that the plans' release would compromise the stadium’s security.

• “After reviewing the actual documents, we are not persuaded that these plans and drawings reveal technical details about the complex’s vulnerabilities,” the ruling stated.

The team also failed to demonstrate how the requested plans are subject to economic development confidentiality rules, the attorney general’s office said. And the ruling said the Cowboys did not provide an explanation of why the plans should be considered a trade secret.

• Arlington taxpayers will pay $325 million of the stadium’s $650 million construction cost through increased sales taxes. As of the end of September, $140 million has been spent on the project, with the city paying half of that.'

from the Star-Telegram, 11/08/06 by Andrea Ahles

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