Thought I was mad before...

[Belmont31R]

Parts of $60M high school stadium in Texas may have to be demolished and rebuilt due to structural flaws: http://t.co/cRAQcUQyHu


When we become irrelevant think back on this.

[JBecker 72]

$60 million for a high school stadium? Wow...

[SeriousStudent]

Just think how happy the people are who live there, and didn't vote for it.

[whiterabbit05]

They will break even and then profit due to all the events held there.

High school football is big here, for some reason...

[RWH24]

Yep, It has been the squawk of North Texas for the last month.
You should have heard the heart attacks when they said it would be built! 60M for a high school football stadium.

It is a piece or artwork, a building masterpiece, already crumbling and the contractor said everything they did was above board.

Right.

[JBecker 72]

They will break even and then profit due to all the events held there.

High school football is big here, for some reason...

I don't doubt it. It's just a whole different game down there I guess.

I actually went to a high school game this fall, was pretty fun actually. Hadn't been in about 11 years since I graduated.

[Moose-Knuckle]

Guess it will be a reality check when all the kids on this 5A State Championship team graduate and they loose their dynasty. There will be a lot of pressure (aka money) to keep a winning program in Allen. I hope the state dope tests the hell out of them and look to see if any of these kids parents receive a new luxury car as a "gift" and all that.

[Scoby]

It is a piece or artwork, a building masterpiece, already crumbling and the contractor said everything they did was above board.

Right.


I'd be willing to bet it was poorly designed / engineered rather than incompetence on the contractors part.

The report I saw on it stated the large elevated slab in the concessions / common area was developing a large number of cracks. This leads me to believe engineering miscalculated the expansion / contraction of the concrete or even the loading of the slab between the support members.

Better to catch it now than after a catastrophic failure.

And, I agree. $60 million for a high school football stadium is nuts. That money could have been better spent on other educational concerns.

[thopkins22]

Allen has a beast of a team right now...and knowing what I do about their program I'd say they're going to be near the top for a while. There are a handful of programs in the state with enough talent and good enough coaches to keep such a program strong for a while...Allen is certainly poised to keep it rolling. Last year when they won state I would have put money on them straight up against most Division III NCAA teams.

In my day we made it to the 5A semi-finals playing in the Astrodome before a stupid loss to San Antonio Taft...a huge number of us were nearly hospitalized with infections from the dirty old stadium. Getting kids out of the old stadiums where staph infections are so rampant is a good thing.

Our home stadium seated 10,000 people and was sold out every single friday night. That's a hell of a lot of people, and stadiums that can seat that many people or more(considering Allen is one of the larger 5A schools at 5,000 students) isn't cheap. Allen's stadium will seat 18,000 and they'll need every seat. These stadiums can also be used for playoff games, which is a positive thing. Big programs in TX are like the big programs in the NCAA, the expenses can pay for themselves without detracting from academics. Weaker programs trying to keep up may have a different story to tell.

In the decade since I played my school sent sixty-some kids on full rides for NCAA football. Some schools send even more...football programs capable of that cost money. Winning is serious business in TX football, and has not changed that much. We had PA's on hand for every practice and MD's at every game with bags of tricks. Whether or not you think it's a positive thing, HS football here is as serious as sports get until you get to top NCAA schools and the NFL. Most kids will go to college to play and wind up playing in front of smaller crowds than they did in HS.

Is it the best way to spend money? No...but I do love it and firmly believe that there are far worse ways that our local governments spend money every single day. HS football in TX is special, and is genuinely some of the best football you can watch for any amount of money. It's one of the few areas that my libertarian views and I embrace a little hypocrisy.

[murphman]

Katy is trying to push the new stadium they want again, even after this story broke. If there is a school in the Nation that deserves a huge high school stadium it is Katy High School but I still don't agree with a 60 to 90 million dollar stadium. Like someone already said, I cannot image the angry for the residents of that school district who voted against that stadium and are now paying for a broken stadium.

[Scoby]

Like someone already said, I cannot image the angry for the residents of that school district who voted against that stadium and are now paying for a broken stadium.

However it shakes out, the design engineer should insurance to cover their design and there should be a contractor performance bond attached to the contract.
School district shouldn't have to pay for squat.

[murphman]

However it shakes out, the design engineer should insurance to cover their design and there should be a contractor performance bond attached to the contract.
School district shouldn't have to pay for squat.

I do not mean they are paying for repairs but they sure did pay for the stadium with taxes and more then likely increased taxes. In return they were built a broken stadium, now they will wait another 2 years for it to be fixed and or rebuilt.

[weggy]

Cripes, we had to sit on a berm that ran along side of the field. Of course that was 40ys ago, and every now and then a damn T-Rex would eat somebody. Ahh the good ol' days. GO FALCONS!

[Scoby]

I do not mean they are paying for repairs but they sure did pay for the stadium with taxes and more then likely increased taxes. In return they were built a broken stadium, now they will wait another 2 years for it to be fixed and or rebuilt.


Oh, I don't disagree. They got screwed anyway you look at it. Attendance revenue will likely suffer for it during that time too.

I love high school and college sports. I very much miss when my son played high school baseball. I'm one of the ones that are of the opinion that sports have evolved to become a major priority in some school districts. Especially the larger ones.
Education systems should be about academics not how good their sports program is or how much revenue can be generated by it.
$60 million for a high school sports complex is nothing but showing off IMO.

[Eurodriver]

Allen has a beast of a team right now...and knowing what I do about their program I'd say they're going to be near the top for a while. There are a handful of programs in the state with enough talent and good enough coaches to keep such a program strong for a while...Allen is certainly poised to keep it rolling. Last year when they won state I would have put money on them straight up against most Division III NCAA teams.

In my day we made it to the 5A semi-finals playing in the Astrodome before a stupid loss to San Antonio Taft...a huge number of us were nearly hospitalized with infections from the dirty old stadium. Getting kids out of the old stadiums where staph infections are so rampant is a good thing.

Our home stadium seated 10,000 people and was sold out every single friday night. That's a hell of a lot of people, and stadiums that can seat that many people or more(considering Allen is one of the larger 5A schools at 5,000 students) isn't cheap. Allen's stadium will seat 18,000 and they'll need every seat. These stadiums can also be used for playoff games, which is a positive thing. Big programs in TX are like the big programs in the NCAA, the expenses can pay for themselves without detracting from academics. Weaker programs trying to keep up may have a different story to tell.

In the decade since I played my school sent sixty-some kids on full rides for NCAA football. Some schools send even more...football programs capable of that cost money. Winning is serious business in TX football, and has not changed that much. We had PA's on hand for every practice and MD's at every game with bags of tricks. Whether or not you think it's a positive thing, HS football here is as serious as sports get until you get to top NCAA schools and the NFL. Most kids will go to college to play and wind up playing in front of smaller crowds than they did in HS.

Is it the best way to spend money? No...but I do love it and firmly believe that there are far worse ways that our local governments spend money every single day. HS football in TX is special, and is genuinely some of the best football you can watch for any amount of money. It's one of the few areas that my libertarian views and I embrace a little hypocrisy.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploads8/Bundy1154554245.jpg

In all seriousness, Allen's median income is north of $100,000/yr. Let them spend their money however they want. They're obviously not strapped for cash. After all, it's for the kids. (Just not the nerdy ones)

[SeriousStudent]

There are actually quite a few programs at Allen High School for the nerdy kids. They have an International Baccalaureate program, along with highly-ranked robotics and culinary arts programs. Plus there are quite a few others that I don't recall off the top of my head.