Dallas Suburbs to Become Collection of Massive Stadiums

The suburban fringe of Dallas is already home to the most expensive stadium in the NFL, so why not add another outsize structure to serve on the high school level of the game? A proposal discussed for years to build a nearly $60 million stadium in the fast-growing suburb of Allen, whose high school team is a powerhouse in the high-school-football-crazed state of Texas and ranks among the best in the nation, passed not long ago, with construction ready to begin soon.↵

↵↵Their current stadium holds 7,000, hardly enough to accommodate the teeming crowds. Last year, the team played at game at the new Cowboys Stadium before an attendance of 50,000. It was clear that the team could use an update of the venue they had been using since the ‘70s, one built long before the surrounding area experienced a rapid population growth.↵

↵↵⇥Next month in the booming north Dallas suburb, ground will be broken on a state-of-the-art, 18,000-seat facility that will feature two decks, a video scoreboard, four concession stands and 12 restrooms.↵⇥It is scheduled to open in the fall of 2012.↵↵↵To assuage those who will decry the misplaced priorities that awards that much money to the construction of a football stadium, planners point out that the stadium was part of a much larger bond package that will also lead to the creation of a new performing arts auditorium, new elementary schools, more school buses and various other educational improvement. Not to mention that the high school is one of the largest in the state and the only one in that particular district. So perhaps some of that excess was actually needed.↵

↵↵In other Dallas football stadium related news: here’s a 3D view of the Cowboys former home being demolished from the inside. ↵

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