Dangerously hot summers lead Texas Rangers to seek park with a retractable roof

Texas Rangers will install a retractable roof.
(Image credit: Don Feria/Getty Images)

Texas may be getting its second retractable-roofed major league baseball stadium following the Texas Rangers' proposal to build a replacement for their current 22-year-old ballpark, Globe Life Park. While a retractable roof often serves to keep a park dry in cities like Seattle, the Rangers' roof, like the Houston Astros', is meant in part to protect players and fans from the dangerous heat of Texas summers, where it can get to 90 degrees or hotter during the games.

The Rangers' lease on Globe Life Park doesn't expire until 2024, but the new ballpark is expected to be in service before then. While Globe Life was built for $191 million back in 1994, the new stadium is expected to cost north of the $500 million mark (the Miami Marlins' new retractable-roofed park, for example, cost $639 million).

The construction of the park will be up for voters in Arlington, Texas, to approve, and would be likely paid for using sales taxes and public revenues — a method many critics call absurd.

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.