Avi Selk reports that the Irving City Council approved bonds to fund an entertainment center Thursday — a rare unanimous vote on a project that has split city politics for years.
The city will borrow an estimated $28 million through hotel tax bonds and front it to the ARK Group, which will build and operate the concert hall and restaurant complex.
An earlier attempt to build the center collapsed last year, and the council had been bitterly split over partnering with ARK for a second try. It voted 5-4 to do so in July.
But with one of the deal’s chief critics, Mayor Beth Van Duyne, out of town this week, other opponents joined votes to move it forward. (The mayor is in Saudi Arabia.)
“This is the road we’re headed down,” said Gerald Farris before voting for the bonds and several other financial items. “And though I did not like the way we got here, I’m going to support it.”
