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Allen High School's $60 Million Stadium Will Reopen For Graduation

Stella M. Chávez
/
KERA News
Workers set up for Allen High School's graduation ceremony in Eagle Stadium.

Allen High School’s $60 million stadium closed last year due to cracking concrete. The school district announced today the stadium will reopen this week in time for graduation Friday.

Allen Superintendent Lance Hindt said PBK Architects and Pogue Construction, who were contracted to build the stadium, completed the repairs at no cost to Allen ISD or taxpayers. PBK also doled out $2.5 million in lost revenue and expenses to Allen High.

Eagle Stadium opened in 2012 and received widespread attention for its splashy facilities. The stadium seats 18,000 and includes a 38-foot wide high-definition video screen. However, school officials soon noticed cracks in the concrete.

A year later, the school district hired Nelson Forensics to look at the problem. Once officials determined the stadium was unsafe, football games and graduation ceremonies were moved to other facilities.  

Nelson Forensics discovered design deficiencies in Eagle Stadium’s elevated concourse, retaining walls, press box and other structures

Allen ISD has posted regular updates about the ongoing work. You can find all of those reports here.

Stella M. Chávez is KERA’s immigration/demographics reporter/blogger. Her journalism roots run deep: She spent a decade and a half in newspapers – including seven years at The Dallas Morning News, where she covered education and won the Livingston Award for National Reporting, which is given annually to the best journalists across the country under age 35.
Former KERA staffer Krystina Martinez was an assistant producer. She produced local content for Morning Edition and KERANews.org. She also produced The Friday Conversation, a weekly series of conversations with North Texas newsmakers. Krystina was also the backup newscaster for the Texas Standard.