The Katy (Texas) Independent School District has broken ground on a $58 million football stadium that will provide a badly needed facility for a school system with seven high schools and only one stadium.
KPRC-TV reports that the 12,000-seat facility is scheduled for completion in 2017. Voters in the Katy District approved funding for the stadium as part of a $748 million bond election last year.
Katy's only football stadium, Jack Rhodes Memorial Stadium, has a seating capacity of 9,768, the district says. It also plays host to soccer matches and marching band competitions.
The Katy district says the new stadium project will include a 12,000-square-foot field house, compared with a 9,800-square-foot space at the Rhodes facility. The field house will include areas for athletes and officials to change and prepare for the game, as well as space for coed training rooms, a police office, an emergency medical technician room, and a meeting area for coaches.
A second floor shell space is planned for above the field house for future build out for multipurpose space and the Athletic Department.
Although some in the community have contended that Katy shouldn't be spending so much on a football facility, district officials made the case that most districts in Texas add a second stadium what they have five to seven high schools. Katy's long-range plans call for opening an eighth high school in 2017 and a ninth in 2021.
