$59.6M high school stadium price not too big in Texas
Jo Hudson’s son Chris is a varsity linebacker for Allen (Texas) High School. To see her son play, she waits in line every Monday for tickets.
“Last year and this year, I could hardly get a seat in the stands,” Hudson said. “After you get done with the band (670 members), the cheerleaders, the extra groups, the student body (5,049 enrollment in grades 9-12, according to the state association), there’s not a lot of seats left.”
A price of $59.6 million might sound like a lot of money for Allen’s new stadium, set to open in 2012. But this is Texas, and Allen won the state 5A-I title in 2008. Construction costs were approved Monday by the Allen school board. The stadium will seat 18,000, including 5,000 reserved seats. That ties it for the fifth-largest high school stadium in the state. Allen’s current stadium, built in 1976, has 7,000 seats. In recent years, temporary bleachers for 7,000 additional seats have been rented at a cost of $225,000 a year.
usatoday.com
8/26/10
