Dallas Cowboys Headquarters, center hits construction midpointJuly marked the midway point in construction for the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and multiuse events center.

The center—a public-private partnership among the Dallas Cowboys, the city of Frisco and Frisco ISD—is expected to open fall 2016, in time for FISD students to begin using the facility for the 2016-17 school year, Superintendent Jeremy Lyon said.

During a press conference July 25, Dallas Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said the center and headquarters should also be done in time for the Cowboys’ first game next season.

“We left Valley Ranch right around June 21, and we looked around—Jerry [Jones] Sr. and myself—and said, ‘This is probably the last time we’re going to break camp here and be coming back to Valley Ranch,’” he said. “When we do that next year ... we’ll be coming to our new home here in Frisco.”

Frisco Mayor Maher Maso said despite heavy rains this spring, the project is still on schedule.

“We have over 575 folks out here working on the site, working seven days a week,” he said. “We are on schedule, and it will open on time.”

The 20-acre multiuse events center will include 12,000 seats and two outdoor fields. When it opens, the facility will be available to the city and FISD for academic, athletic and other events.

Lyon said he envisions a kickoff event with several high school teams playing against each other for the center’s grand opening.

“The Cowboys organization have been extraordinary partners,” he said. “Every conversation that we’ve had in planning this facility includes a very strong component of, ‘What can we do for the benefit of our students?’”

The center will anchor The Star in Frisco, a 91-acre mixed-use development at Warren Parkway and the Dallas North Tollway. The development will include restaurants, retail and an Omni Hotel.

Maso said the city is still in talks with several major corporations that have expressed interest in opening offices in the development.

“[The center] has created many more offshoots, business partners talking about locating here,” he said. “The city of Frisco is still growing rapidly. We put over 2,200 new homes on the ground last year, noted a lot of new business announcements and the best is yet to come.”