The $220 million bond proposal approved last week by voters in the McKinney (Texas) Independent School District includes $50.3 million allocated for construction of a new district stadium and events center.
When the construction cost is combined with $12.5 million that will be spent on infrastructure related to the stadium, the price tag for the facility comes to $62.8 million—which has led some to call the McKinney project the most expensive high school stadium ever.
But, The Dallas Morning News reports, the McKinney district is declining to embrace the dubious title. A spokesman with the district says calling McKinney's stadium the most expensive is misleading because the price tag attached to other expensive high school stadiums (also in football-crazy Texas) does not include infrastructure costs.
"Some of the stadiums around us, you know them by the construction cost of just building the stadium." says McKinney athletic director Shawn Pratt. "...[T]hey've had infrastructure that's not being counted in their cost."
A stadium being built in the Katy (Texas) district is estimated to cost $62.5 million, and the stadium in the Allen (Texas) district cost about $60 million.
Whoever holds the title for most expensive stadium, it's can't be disputed that McKinney is spending a lot of money on its new facility.
In making a case for the project, the McKinney district said in its bond brochure that a new stadium was needed because the existing facility is 54 years old and was built when the district was significantly smaller.
In a 2000 bond election, voters approved funding for a new stadium, but because of rapid enrollment growth, McKinney had to use the money to build more classrooms instead of a football facility.
The stadium plans approved by voters on May 7 call for a facility that would seat 12,000 fans and have about 2,400 parking spaces. McKinney officials say the stadium would be comparable in size to facilities in neighboring districts in the Dallas area.
