Glass Sets the Stage for Cowboys' First Regular-Season Home Game on Sunday
September 18, 2009

The new Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will host its first regular-season game on Sunday night when the team kicks off against division rivals the N.Y. Giants.

The largest NFL stadium in the world was originally budgeted for $650 million, but wound up with a $1.12 billion price tag. It features 80,000 seats mounted on sliding rails so that, if the arm rests are removed, an extra 20,000 seats can be squeezed in for big events (such as Super Bowl XLV, slated to take place in Texas in 2011).

NBC's TODAY show broadcasted from the stadium this morning, during which team owner Jerry Jones noted that the glass was among the most unique features of the stadium. The stadium features an 86-foot-high canted glass exterior curtainwall, and 120-foot-high glass retractable end zone doors, the largest operable glass doors in the world.

(CLICK HERE to watch the Today show interview with Jones and HERE for a tour of the stadium with legendary football player Emmitt Smith).

Larry Long, president of the Oldcastle Glass Building Envelope Group in Dallas, notes that Jones was very involved in the entire project, including choosing the look of the glass.

"Jerry Jones and his whole family came out and we mocked up three different designs with the glass and aluminum and he made the decision along with the architect on which one they wanted to go with," Long says.

The glass, manufactured by a number of different suppliers, was fabricated by Viracon in Owatonna, Minn. Oldcastle Glass served as the building envelop manufacturer and unitized the glass and curtainwall used in the stadium's major features. Haley-Greer in Dallas was the glazing contractor.

"The Jones family really wanted the stadium to be a reflection of the team-both in the colors and in the general aesthetic-and the glass skin became a focal point for the stadium," said Lynn Eaton, project manager at Viracon.

Watch for the September issue of USGlass for an in-depth look at the glass highlights of the new Cowboys Stadium.

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