From Irvin High to Globe Life Field, architect Fred Ortiz lives his life’s American dream – El Paso Times

Fred Ortiz talks about his El Paso background Wochit

Fred Ortiz juggled two life goals as a fourth-grader atStanton Elementary Schoolgrowing up in the Lyndon B. Johnsonprojects in Northeast El Paso in 1977.

One was common for boys his age, particularly ones good enough to earn a college football scholarship. Ortiz wanted to play tight end for the Dallas Cowboys.

The other goal was a path less dreamed.

"I remember in fourth grade being asked, 'What do you want to do when you get older?' " Ortiz, 53, recalled from his home in the Dallas area. "I said, 'Well, I want to be one of those guys who draws buildings.' "

El Paso native Fred Ortiz is a director of sports at the HKS Inc. architecture firm.(Photo: HKS Inc.)

Ortiz draws great big buildings now. A director of sports at the HKSInc. architecture firm, one of his newest works, Globe Life Fieldin Arlington, will be in the spotlight this week when it hosts the World Series.

Instead of playing on one of the biggest stages in the world as an athlete, Ortiz designed one of the biggest stages in the world for an architecture firm that has drawn up many of those venues.

"You work so hard on these projects and when they are actually done, serving their purpose, it's a great feeling," Ortiz said.

Ortiz is the embodiment of the American dream, both his and that of his parents, Aniceto and Teresa. The factory workers emigrated from Jurez to El Paso on April 23, 1969, with their son, two years after Fred was born in an El Paso hospital.

The Ortizeswere looking for a better life for a family that would soon grow to five boys, and that began to take shape in 1975 when the LBJ projects opened.

"I was blessed with the right people," Ortiz said. "I've been reflecting a lot on my past and one of the special moments was when my parents had an opportunity to move to the Northeast. We lived in little apartments not far from the border, but they had this opportunity first-come, first-serve to live in these new government-owned projects.

"They got their name on the list and there we were. It was a new beginning. That's where the right people were able to guide me, influence me and mentor me, whether it was working me as hard as they could or educating me in the classroom, it all made the difference."

One of those people Ortiz credits for his success was Irvin High School football coach Tony Shaw, himself an architect of powerhouse Rocket teams in the mid-1980s, who saw how special Ortiz and his family were. Ortiz, the oldest of his parents' five children, is a 1985 Irvin graduate.

"He was dedicated, he was a hard worker.I would give a pep talk and the Ortiz brothers would have tears in their eyes," Shaw said. "They drank the coach's Kool-Aid."

Ortiz agrees.

"We drank the Kool-Aid," he said. "On the wall in the locker room there were words that to this day I can recite: Poise, character, leadership, dedication, attitude. Our motto for everything was, 'What the mind can conceive and believe it can achieve.'

"I took that and I ran with it, not just through high school but into college and to now. If I have a vision and an idea, I work it through my team. I don't hesitate to push ideas out there.

"Now it's my turn to be a mentor. I've taken pride over the years offering to spend one-on-one time with young individuals who are inspired to be in the position I'm in."

Fred Ortiz (in blue jeans) and his four brothers with father Aniceto Ortiz in the LBJ projects in El Paso.(Photo: Courtesy photo)

Although Ortiz didn't know what an architect was in elementary school, he showed a fascination from a young age for the skills that would define his life.

After sharing his dream of drawing buildings,"teachers said, 'OK, when you get to high school, be sure and take drafting,' " Ortiz said. "I get to Irvin and loand behold, I'm taking drafting. I'm learning how to visualize, how to draw in two dimensions. All the while I'm doing my own personal investigations into drawing freehand, drawing anything I can get hold of."

He also was taking a star turn for the Rockets football team, as a tight end, deep snapper and defensive end, and that opened up another door. That's when the dream of becoming an architect took a step forward.

"When it started becoming reality was when my high school coach understood I wanted to go to college, I aspired to be an architect," Ortiz said of Shaw. "He came to me one day and said, 'Here are the list of schools in Texas that offer architecture;this one is coming to see you tomorrow.'

"It was the University of Texas at Arlington. Loand behold, I was offered a full ride and they had a great architecture program. That's how it evolved."

Fred Ortiz is a director of sports at the HKS Inc. architecture firm. He fulfilled his childhood dream of drawing buildings, designing some of the most iconic sports venues in the nation.(Photo: Daryl Shields/HKS Inc.)

That's also where the dream of playing for the Cowboys died. Ortiz wasinjured his freshman year, then UTA killed its football program. One of the UTA coaches got a job at Louisiana Tech and Ortiz had a scholarship offer there.

"I turned to coach Shaw. I was literally crying: 'Coach, what do I do?' " Ortiz said.

Shaw knew what he should do.

"You've got a bum knee, you're one of the best architecture students in the country, Louisiana Tech doesn't even offer architecture," Shaw said. "Get your education."

Ortiz took UTA up on its offer to honor his scholarship, he got his degree and by the early '90s was working his way up through small architecture firms.

In 2007, he moved to the big time, taking a job as director of design at HKS Richmond, Virginia,office, where he began working on sports projects. HKS has built, among many other things, the football stadiums for the Dallas Cowboys, the Minnesota Vikings, the Indianapolis Colts and the Los Angeles Chargers and Rams.

In 2017, HKS was formally awarded the rights to design what has become Globe Life Fieldin Arlington.

"As much as I love being a generalist, working on all kinds of projects, I feel deep down inside athletics were very important to me growing up," said Ortiz, whose current projects include the Socorro Student Activities Center II, set to open in 2023.

"They motivated me, they shaped me, they made me who I am today. Now I love knowing not only was I a player, I became a dad, I coached, I became an architect and I'm able to choreograph incredible experiences for fans around the world."

In fact, one project he did was the athletic facilities at Virginia Military Academy when his oldest son was attending. His two youngest sons, twins Antonio and Marco, are currently third-year deep snappers for the TCU and Florida football teams, respectively. By moving back to the Metroplex two years ago, Ortiz gets to be closer to Antonio.

A general view of Globe Life Field is shown during batting practice before a baseball game between the Texas Rangers and the Seattle Mariners in Arlington, Texas, on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2020.(Photo: Ray Carlin/Associated Press)

In the disappointment that is 2020, the 40,300-capacity Globe Life, which opened this season, didn't host fans through the regular season. Itwill be at 25%capacity for the World Series, like it was for the National League Championship Series it hosted the past week.

On the plus side, it wouldn't have hosted the World Series in a normal year, but Major League Baseball opted for a neutral-field bubble for this year's Fall Classic and baseball's newest stadium was selected.

For Ortiz, getting to see fans come into the park began to make his design visions come true. Ortiz describes his creationin an almost mystical fashion, as if it is aliving thing.

A view of the field is shown as the Atlanta Braves work out at Globe Life Park in Arlington on Oct. 11, 2020.(Photo: Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports)

"Finally, the doors were open, finally, the fans were roaming through the concourses," Ortiz said. "The comments they were making, the selfies they were taking, the game (hot) dog, the nachos in the air, then lo and behold the roof starts to open it was awesome. It was awesome.

"It's the kind of stuff you look forward to. You work so hard, in this case four years, to design and build something, and you want people to look through it, you want them to experience it. It's almost like a form of testing, whether or not all the moves you made were going to happen the way you intended it to.

"And I think in a very serendipitous way it's awesome to find them using it in a way you never thought. As simple as an aperture or view to the field you didn't anticipate. ... Maybe it's lighting, maybe it's an audible aspect to it. It's tapping into a lot of the senses and it can be a simple little platform someone has found and fans will congregate."

When he's describing his creation, Ortiz sounds like a proud father. There is, of course, another proud father to consider. Ortiz was able to give a tour of Globe Life Fieldto his parents early this year, shortly before the COVID-19 shutdowns.

"My father's a very quiet man, but his smile was ear-to-ear, full of pride," Ortiz said.

Aniceto Ortiz said: "I don't have the words. I'm very, very proud of him. 'You're my man.' I almost cried, I'm so happy."

His son created a venue where dreams come true, including the dreams of an El Paso family.

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Bret Bloomquist can be reached at 915-546-6359; bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on Twitter.

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From Irvin High to Globe Life Field, architect Fred Ortiz lives his life's American dream - El Paso Times