Even as talk heats up that Jerry Jones is about to cash in to the tune of $15-20 million annually in naming rights for the Arlington Cowboys’ new stadium, there’s more naming rights talk a little closer to home: Fair Park’s Esplanade Fountain.
That’s where city officials, quietly according to a DMN story Sunday, are casting about for around $5 million to help defray an expected $11.7 million renovation/restoration of the 700-foot reflecting pool and accompanying fountains. Typically, talk from the city about seeking corporate money for city assets brings out angry citizens who don’t want to see Pizza Hut or Papa John’s or AT&T (if they have any money left for this type of thing after Jerry gets his share) slap their name on city parks.
But the sad truth of what’s happening at Fair Park is that we, as a city, don’t seem to have the collective will or political backbone to spend enough time or money fashioning a realistic plan to resurrect this dying asset, which seems viable only during the State Fair’s run every October. So if we aren’t going to commit the money to protect the facility ourselves, why not get it from some big company looking for a naming opportunity?
