Nation's most expensive prep football stadium closes two years after its built
Allen (Texas) High officially closed its new $60 million stadium for the fall season due to unsafe conditions at the nation's most expensive high school football stadium, according to The Dallas Morning News.
As previously discussed on Prep Rally, the discovery of cracking concrete on the concourse level of the state-of-the-art facility shut down Eagle Stadium in February. According to the paper, an engineering analysis is expected to be completed in June and has already revealed structural issues in the stadium.
"The stadium is not safe for public assembly," Allen suprintendent Lance Hindt told the Morning News.
The nation's most expensive high school athletic facility at a taxpayer cost of $60 million, Eagle Stadium opened in August 2012 to national fanfare. Around the same time, Allen officials had already discovered cracks in the concrete, notifying design firm PBK Architects and building company Pogue Construction.
While PBK and Pogue executives originally cited "normal concrete shrinkage" and estimated repair costs at $1 million, according to the Morning News, an early Nelson Forensics report detailed structural flaws and building code violations that could eventually require completely rebuilding the affected areas.
“Once a repair solution has been agreed upon, PBK and Pogue Construction will implement the repair at no cost to the district,” PBK wrote in a statement to The Dallas Morning News on Monday. “At the end of the day, our goal is to provide the taxpayers of Allen exactly what they paid for.”
Meanwhile, Allen officials had orginially hoped the two-time defending state champion Eagles would be able to return to the football field this fall, but they and any fans who hoped to fill the building's 18,000 seats will have to travel to neighboring Plano for home games this fall — at a cost of $5,300 per game for Allen ISD.
