When completed, backers hope the $250 million Texas Live! entertainment complex will put Arlington, TX on the map as one of the premiere sports and entertainment spots in the country. That’s still a long time away but ground was officially broken on the project in the final week of March.

Rendering courtesy of Texas Live!

The City of Arlington, the Texas Rangers, the Cordish Companies, and other companies involved in the project were on hand to kick things off. The hope is to have the entire development done in time for the 2018 Rangers baseball season.

The 200,000-square-foot venue will go up between Globe Life Park, the current home of the baseball team, and a new $1 billion retractable-roof stadium that will be the team’s future home by 2020. Between the two structures will be a 300-room luxury hotel, 35,000 square feet of convention space, a 5,000-capacity outdoor event pavilion, and more. The project is expected to bring 3,000 jobs and more than 3 million new visitors to the city.