The Texas Rangers on Thursday provided an early look at the mix of modern and old-school design that's expected to replace Globe Life Park in Arlington in 2020.

Hints of the current stadium's retro styling are likely to remain, including arches that are also a signature feature of neighboring AT&T Stadium. The new ballpark could have just two seating decks rather than three and shorter distances between fans in the upper levels and the field.

Dallas-based HKS, announced Thursday as the project's architect, is also focused on integrating the new ballpark with surrounding sidewalks, streets, new entertainment venues and possibly a repurposed Globe Life Park.

Bryan Trubey, an HKS executive vice president and lead architect for the new stadium, said the stadium will be more "historic in the way it lays out and configures and feels." He said older stadiums— wedged into dense neighborhoods — took over the surrounding streets on game day.

"That feels like a phenomenal urban environment like it does in Boston, like it does in Chicago," he said.

A Rangers stadium acting as an anchor for a new urban neighborhood in Arlington has been a dream since at least the early 1990s. But that's failed to materialize, even with the opening of the Cowboys' $1.2 billion stadium just down the street.

Trubey said the new Rangers stadium will be poised to take advantage of new development — both planned and speculative — when it finally happens.

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"Now we're dreaming big once again," said Arlington Mayor Jeff Williams. "The opportunity to team up with a world-class architect and to build a world-class destination for a world-class team is phenomenal."

This is the third Arlington stadium designed by HKS. The firm was responsible for AT&T Stadium — home of the Dallas Cowboys — and was lead architect for the Rangers' Globe Life Park in Arlington. HKS also designed College Park Center, the basketball arena and multipurpose venue at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The new stadium's design was frequently described as "intimate" in the way that smaller, historic stadiums were.

The Rangers' agreement with the city specifies a stadium with a capacity of at least 38,000. Team officials have said they expect it to be closer to 42,000. Globe Life Park has a capacity of 48,114.

"We don't need 50,000 seats for every game in a ballpark," Trubey said. "Those are just things our industry has learned over the last 20 years."

Officials with the Rangers and HKS said the new retractable roof stadium would be closely integrated with the new Texas Live! entertainment district next door. And the new stadium will be designed for year-around use, much like AT&T Stadium.

"A building of this magnitude has to be more than a world-class ballpark," said Rob Matwick, executive vice president of business operations.

1 / 6An artist rendering of the new Texas Rangers ballpark shows pedestrian areas. The team announced Thursday that Dallas-based HKS has been selected to design the new stadium, which is scheduled to open in 2020.(HKS) 2 / 6HKS executive vice president, director of sports & entertainment Bryan Trubey points to models of what the new Texas Rangers ballpark seating will look like when designed. The difference between the new (right) and existing (left) seating structure is that the seating configuration gives the fan a more intimate feel to the game by putting them closer to the field. The Texas Rangers baseball organization announced that HKS has been selected to design the new ballpark adjacent to Globe Life Park during a press conference in Arlington, Thursday, January 5, 2017. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 3 / 6Models show possible seating design for new Texas Rangers ballpark. The difference between the new (left) and existing (right) seating structures is the seating configuration which gives fans a more intimate feel by putting them closer to the field. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 4 / 6An artist rendering of a new Texas Rangers ballpark. The team announced Thursday that HKS has been selected to design the new ballpark to be built across the street from Globe Life Park. (HKS) 5 / 6HKS executive vice president, director of sports & entertainment Bryan Trubey points to models of what the new Texas Rangers ballpark seating will look like when designed. The difference between the new (left) and existing (right) seating structure is that the seating configuration gives the fan a more intimate feel to the game by putting them closer to the field. The Texas Rangers baseball organization announced that HKS has been selected to design the new ballpark adjacent to Globe Life Park during a press conference in Arlington, Thursday, January 5, 2017.(Tom Fox / Staff Photographer) 6 / 6A artist rendering of the new Texas Rangers stadium and the planed Texas Live! entertain complex next door. The Texas Rangers baseball organization announced that HKS has been selected to design the new ballpark to be built adjacent to Globe Life Park. (Tom Fox / Staff Photographer)

Arlington voters overwhelmingly approved a package of taxes in November to help pay for the estimated $1 billion stadium. The deal included $500 million in bonds paid with a half-cent sales tax, 2 percent hotel occupancy tax and 5 percent car rental tax. Millions more in user fees — ticket and parking taxes — were also part of the city incentives.

The Rangers and city are moving quickly to get the retractable-roof stadium open for the 2020 season. They had initially projected the opening for 2020 or 2021.

Globe Life Park is expected to be 26 years old when it's retired. The new stadium will be constructed in a Rangers parking lot across Randol Mill Road from Globe Life Park.

The new stadium will be next door to and have multiple connections with the $250 million Texas Live! project, which is getting as much as $100 million in city funding and tax incentives. That development is scheduled to open by Opening Day 2018.

The new stadium is expected to keep the Rangers in Arlington through the 2053 season. The team — originally the Washington Senators — moved to Arlington in 1972.

The Rangers initially played in Arlington Stadium, a converted minor league ballpark. That was replaced in 1994 by the stadium originally called The Ballpark in Arlington. It went through several name changes and has been Globe Life Park since 2014.

It's not known what the new stadium will be called.

There are no specific plans for Globe Life Park once the new stadium opens. Rangers officials have said they are committed to redeveloping the stadium and using at least some of the existing structure.

"It's a phenomenal structure," Trubey said. "And there's precedent for how to reuse those structures in other parts of the world, in the U.K. in particular, where they've been reused and created pretty vibrant live-work-play environments."