IRVING (1080 KRLD)- The City of Irving has started a $7.8 million project to rebuild Williams Square Plaza, home of the Mustangs of Las Colinas. The sculpture was built in 1985.
"The community has embraced the mustangs," says Irving Mayor Rick Stopfer. "We've use them on our flags, we've used them on our letterhead. More and more, anything to do with Irving deals with the mustangs."
The sculpture shows mustangs running across water. Stopfer says the mustangs themselves needed maintenance, but the project will redevelop the entire plaza.
Irving is working with Hillwood Urban, which owns and operates Williams Square along with Apollo Global and Vanderbilt Partners.
"It was a combination of maintenance. It was a combination of making the plaza softer and a combination of engaging the residents to make sure we had something everyone would be happy about," Stopfer says.
The project will add trees and grass to the plaza. Stopfer says the redevelopment will also include space for more outdoor seating for larger events like concerts with the Irving Symphony and fireworks.
"We'll really make this thing a multi-functional, year-round opportunity for our residents to be a part of," he says.
Buildings around the plaza are adding more ground-floor commercial space and restaurants. Stopfer says adding green space to the plaza outside can help Las Colinas appeal to a new generation of people entering the workforce who are less likely to want a long commute, making Irving a more desirable destination for businesses.
"This live-work environment is crucial," he says. "Our business community continues to grow. Our Fortune 500 companies, we have eight of the 25 in the Metroplex. We have more than 45 Japanese firms with their headquarters here. It goes on and on and on."
In addition to more green space at Williams Square Plaza, Stopfer says the project will set up lighting to shine along the sides of buildings.
"We can actually make it look like the Coliseum with lights shining up the sides of all three of the buildings," he says. "We'll have different atmospheres we can put in place for Christmas, New Year's, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day and Valentine's Day."
Construction is expected to last about a year and should end in the spring of 2022.