The school board of the McKinney (Texas) Independent School District will vote next week to approve a proposed $220 million project that includes a new $50.3 million, 12,000-seat football stadium and events center.
The vote is March 17 ahead of a May 7 bond election, the Dallas Morning News reported.
A new stadium was originally approved in 2000, but because the Dallas-area district has since been rapidly growing and building new schools, that project was put on the back burner, the newspaper reported. Three high schools in McKinney ISD share a 7,000-seat stadium that was built in 1962. Parking (with less than 400 spots) and seating (the district has had to pay for seating rentals at bigger games) have been issues.
Related: Allen ISD Spending Millions to Fix Unsafe $60M Stadium
Members of the bond committee say the new stadium also could be used for soccer games and band competitions, and the district could contend to host football playoff games and Drum Corps International competitions, the newspaper reported.
The new stadium also would compete with a number of new football stadiums already in place in North Texas, including the $60 million, 18,000-seat stadium in Allen (which had to be repaired in 2014), a 9,800-seat stadium in Plano and the 12,000-seat indoor stadium that is part of the Ford Center at the Star, the new Dallas Cowboys complex in Frisco that will begin operations in August.
Nearly half of the McKinney residents who spoke at a planning and zoning meeting in February expressed concerns over the location and cost of the new stadium, the Morning News reported.
Related: Cowboys Club to Include Fitness Facility, Team Access
McKinney ISD is considering a new $50 million high school football stadium: https://t.co/O3yHxqXeDd pic.twitter.com/v7m5BgximM
— NBC DFW (@NBCDFW) March 10, 2016
