High School Football Fiasco
Allen ISD to cough up $2 million for Eagle Stadium repairs
Allen ISD board members are prepared to spend up to $2 million to repair Eagle Stadium, which shuttered in May due to significant structural problems. The 18,000-seat stadium was designed by PBK Architects and built by Pogue Construction, and both companies originally agreed to pony up $2 million in an escrow account.
But according to superintendent Lance Hindt, a "legal snarl" upended those plans. To cut through the red tape, the board has proposed two new resolutions related to funding the extensive repair project.
The first delegates the task of securing repairs to Hindt; the second authorizes up to $2 million in existing bond funds to get the job done. Both appear poised for approval at a July 28 board meeting.
Eagle Stadium, which was built in 2012 for a cool $60 million, is expected to be out of commission for the entire 2014-2015 school year. And if the board doesn't approve these new resolutions, it could be even longer.
The so-called "traditional methods" of financing the stadium repairs through the Texas Education Code "will substantially delay and impair returning the stadium to service," the resolution reads.
Examples of the structural problems at the stadium include insufficient steel framing and concrete columns, "particularly in high winds for the press box and scoreboard."
Even though the board is willing to put its own $2 million on the line to expedite repairs, it isn't giving up its legal rights to eventually order Pogue and PBK to pay up.
"Nothing contained in this resolution shall be deemed a waiver or relinquishment of AISD's right to recoup all such amounts from parties that may be responsible for making those repairs," the document reads.
