Photo by City of Frisco

Photo by City of Frisco

Construction is not far away on the first part of the multiuse event center and Dallas Cowboys headquarters.

Frisco City Council members at a special meeting on May 6 heard an update on the project and saw an updated site plan and rendering of the publicly-funded areas.

The first part of the site plan, which includes the multiuse event facility, two practice fields, the Dallas Cowboys headquarters and some retail space, is expected to go before the Planning and Zoning Commission for approval on May 27.

That section of the project, in the northwest quadrant of the development at Warren Parkway and Dallas Parkway, is still on schedule to be open by late 2016, according to Assistant City Manager Ron Patterson.

If the commission approves it, Patterson said construction on the property will be able to start. Construction of the piers for the multiuse event center could begin in August, he said.

The indoor multiuse events center will be set 18 feet into the ground in order to reduce the profile of the building and will be a split-bowl style, meaning part of the seating will be below the ground—similar to Toyota stadium—and the other section will rise above. In all, it will be about three and a half stories tall, Patterson said.

Being built into the plans are unloading and parking areas for buses and 18-wheeler truck trailers. These will be used for Frisco ISD events or any other concert or trade show events that might take place.

Issues such as roads, sewer systems and more are still currently in the planning stages. More detailed designs for the project will be finished in the next couple of months, Patterson said.

The project is a product of a partnership between the city of Frisco, the Dallas Cowboys and Frisco ISD. The school district and city are putting a combined $115 million toward the project.

Eventual plans are for the development to include more retail and restaurant space, office space and hotel space.