Big rich Texas: high school gets $60 million football stadium

[RS12]

Yes, folks, high school football is very, very big in the state of Texas. So big that a town can pull together an absurd amount of money to build their young teenagers a huge $60 million stadium.

Allen is a suburb of Dallas, and when they weren't happy with their old stadium, they went big, NBC DFW reports.

The Allen Eagles’ new stadium has 18,000 seats, a 75-by-45 foot HD video scoreboard, a weight room, a press room and even private boxes. And get this - Eagle Stadium is only the 3rd largest high school arena in Texas.

The stadium was funded from a $119 million bond package approved by town voters in 2009. The Eagles first game in their new home is August 31st.

http://network.yardbarker.com/nfl/a...ts_60_million_football_stadium_video/11399506

 

[StarBoyz83]

What thaaa f??* well now if the teams sucks they can be like cowboys fans. Ya we suck but at least our stadium is cool. Lol

 

[BoysFan4ever]

There is something very cool about this but at the same time kind of unnerving thinking about that for a high school.

 

[burmafrd]

That is just so wrong. All that money. just wrong

 

[DallasCowpoke]

Allen is one of the fastest growing areas, surrounded by 5-6 of the "fastest growing areas" rated in the top 5-10 in the country, over the last 5-10 years. It's hardly a money-pit investment and will generate huge income for the city because of it's multi-use capabilities.

Besides, they have and have had, one of the winningest FB programs in the state for the past few years.

 

[DFWJC]

Crazy stuff.
Hey, it's not like that money is being taken from somewhere else. It was direct bond money voted and paid for by Allen residents. They also spend a ton on the schools in general and get good results. They spend above and beyond what is allocated for taxes because Texas has a "Robin hood" rule that takes large chunks of funds from wealthy school districts and disburses it to less favored areas.

The facility is not just for football--it is an all purpsoe facilty for all Allen ISD and the city of Allen. Those high schools in North dallas are gigantic. It is not going to lose money long-term.
Plano, for example, has 3 senior high schools (2 classes) each with > 5000 students. Allen is just as big.

 

[MapleLeaf]

...to Texas last October I saw the Allen Eagles take on the Hebron Hawks.

The Eagles barely got out of there with a win. Good game. Good atmosphere.

 

[Muhast]

I graduated in 2005. I went to a big 5a high school in Atlanta, and we played a lot of nice schools. Only 1 school had turf in our region out of 10. Now, 7 years later 8 of the 10 have state of the art turf fields. And I know that goes for a lot of areas around the country.

High School football is just huge in the south. Texas even more so than the rest.