Construction on one of the country's most expensive high school football stadiums has been interrupted after cracks were discovered in the concrete.
McKinney Independent School District officials identified "greater than anticipated" cracking in the home and visitor concourses of the $70 million complex.
Nelson Forensics — the same firm that investigated issues a few years ago at Allen ISD's football stadium — is looking into the source of McKinney’s stadium cracking.
McKinney ISD was planning to open the 12,000-seat stadium by the start of this fall’s football season. And officials still have hope. The first of three reports on the structure says the cracking does not pose life-safety concerns.
McKinney district staff found the cracks in January and notified contractor Manhattan Construction Group and architectural firm Stantec, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Voters approved the project in May 2016 as part of a $220 million bond package.
Manhattan says it'll do whatever it takes to resolve the issues — at no cost to the public.
“You cannot find a single client in Dallas that would tell you that we walked away from a problem and didn’t solve it -- and made them proud,” said Mark Penny, senior vice president of Manhattan.
McKinney ISD Superintendent Rick McDaniel said the district promised the community a "first-class facility."
“That’s what we intend to deliver, even if it takes a little longer than expected," McDaniel said in a statement. "This project will serve our community for the next 50-plus years, so the long-term durability and integrity of the project is paramount.”
The district says it will provide another construction update at the board of trustees monthly meeting in June.
In 2016, McKinney announced its plans for a stadium. That came just a few years after the Allen school district opened its own massive — and massively expensive — high school football stadium.
Allen ISD had to close its 18,000-seat, $60 million stadium in February 2014 after cracks were found in the concrete. Among other problems, Nelson Forensics identified "design deficiencies" in the stadium's elevated concourse that failed to meet building codes and jeopardized the safety of the structure, KERA reported.
PBK Architects and Pogue Construction, who built the stadium, repaired it 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 reopened in June 2015 in time for graduation.
