DALLAS — A guiding philosophy behind the American Airlines Center has been to "underpromise and overdeliver," at least according to one of its developers – Dallas-based buyout king Tom Hicks.
The arena's developers say they've met that standard by at least one important measure – the number of construction contracts awarded to minority- and women-owned companies.
They agreed in 1998 to give at least 26 percent of the construction contracts to minority- or women-owned companies as a way to help settle a fractious debate and win public support for the new sports palace.
According to the numbers, they've overdelivered. A third of construction contracts through April have been awarded to minority- or women-owned businesses.
And minorities alone have received about 22 percent of the contracts, which have ranged from concrete-pouring to laying wiring for high-speed communications to furnishing skyboxes at the 19,200-seat complex.
Some $263 million was spent through April on the construction of the sports and entertainment complex on the edge of downtown Dallas. Dallas taxpayers voted to provide $125 million of the $420 million price tag by a razor-thin margin in January 1998.
"This is a huge economic engine," said Martin Burrell, vice president of minority affairs for the Center Operating Co., the company formed to run the arena. "It is going to be a great entertainment center. But it's also there to make money. More people ought to benefit from it than just Anglo males."
The center's developers include Hicks, owner of the Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars, and Ross Perot Jr., owner of Hillwood Development Corp. The center will be home to the Dallas Stars and the Dallas Mavericks, whose majority owner is Mark Cuban. Perot owns a small stake in the Mavericks.
"We got public support because of the entire community," Hicks noted. "And our philosophy as we went into the arena was to underpromise and overdeliver."
Hicks said that philosophy is reflected in the number of minority-owned businesses that participated in the construction, as well as the quality of the structure.
Hillwood's president, Rick Patterson, also said he was pleased with the diverse results of the contracting process.
"The fact of the matter is there are a lot of quality contractors out there, and they just needed the exposure," Patterson said.
Through April, black-owned businesses and Hispanic-owned businesses had each received about 10 percent of the center's expenditures.
Asians and American Indians received nearly 2 percent of the contracts. And companies owned by white women received about 12 percent. About 200 minority- and women-owned companies have participated in the construction of the center.
"We set the goals as the floor, not the ceiling," said Burrell, who added that the diversity effort will continue after the center opens later this month.
Most notably, the results at the sports and entertainment complex exceed the levels of contracting with minorities and women-owned businesses in the city of Dallas.
Last fiscal year, minorities received about 16 percent of the city contracts. Minorities and women-owned businesses together received about 22 percent of all contracts.
Such contracting goals are common throughout local, state and federal governments as the nation finds equitable ways of doing business in communities with swelling minority communities and the fast-growing number of women-owned businesses.
In Dallas, for example, 66 percent of the population is Hispanic, black, Asian or American Indian. In Texas, about 45 percent of the population is minority.
The Dallas politics of building a sports arena set off all the sparks of a hockey fight and a soccer brawl in the months leading up to a January 1998 vote. Among the big backers of the arena was Dallas Mayor Ron Kirk.
Voters agreed to a 7 percent increase on hotel occupancy and car-rental taxes by a ratio of 50.7 to 49.3 percent. And minority residents in southern Dallas provided crucial pro-arena votes, a Dallas Morning News analysis of the voting record showed.
In fact, some minority groups wouldn't endorse the new center until promises were given to ensure that minority business owners would be participating in its development and operation.
Javier Arias, whose masonry company bid for a contract at the complex and didn't get it, still had praise for the bidding process.
"We are happy with the minority participation and the results," said Arias, who is also chairman of the Organization of Hispanic Contractors.
But he added, "If we hadn't stood up and said we supported it, I don't think it would have passed."
Others involved in the project were equally enthusiastic. "This has been one of the most unique and successful women and minority contracting programs anywhere in the country," said Darren Reagan, a member of a minority advisory committee of the American Airlines Center.
Reagan credited Lee Alcorn, a fiery ex-president of the Dallas chapter of the NAACP. Alcorn was one of a group of minority leaders who wouldn't endorse the arena until its developers agreed to adopt a program for contracting with minority-owned firms.
"Lee Alcorn pretty much laid the groundwork for the success of this initiative," said Reagan, who is a co-developer of the southern Dallas shopping center.
The general contractor for the project is Austin Industries Inc., a non-minority firm owned by William T. Solomon. Solomon has a high public profile, having served as a chairman of the Dallas Citizens Council, the Dallas Together Forum and as a campaign finance co-chairman for Mayor Kirk.
Among the minority firms receiving large contracts are Con-Real Inc., a black-owned business run by Gerald Alley that provided project engineering and concrete installation worth nearly $8 million; Trojan Electric Inc., a Hispanic-owned electrical company run by Manuel Gonzales that won a contract worth $4.6 million; and Alman Electric Inc., a Hispanic-owned firm run by Joe Alcantar that provided $3.6 million worth of services.
Other contractors included Janet Judd, a white woman whose North Texas Steel Co. provided about $8 million worth of structural steel, and Choctaw Erectors Inc., run by American Indian Kevin Ball, which provided about $100,000 worth of steel services.
The American Airlines Center wasn't without its construction problems. One minority firm encountered financial problems and was unable to complete its contract. It was replaced by another minority-owned firm.
The sports and entertainment complex is a brick and limestone structure with classical arches fused with a modern vaulted roof that covers 120,000 square feet.
The American Airlines Center opens its doors to the public on July 28 with a concert by the rock group The Eagles. Ribbon-cutting ceremonies are July 27.
The final costs of the arena are expected to reach $420 million. The $263 million in expenditures through April do not reflect salaries, the costs of the land, certain financing and interest costs and street improvements done by the city, center officials said.
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2001 by WFAA-TV Co. All Rights Reserved.
