A nearly $60 million football stadium with seating for 18,000 will showcase high school athletes in north Texas.
Groundbreaking was planned Thursday on the sunken-bowl designed venue for Allen High School.
Allen Eagle Stadium will include a two-tier press box, video scoreboard, weight room, wrestling practice room, plus an indoor area for golf practice. Additionally, there will be a Wall of Honor plaza and a large video scoreboard. (See the complete specs in this .pdf from the Allen ISD.)
The field, which will be covered with a synthetic turf system, will be only about 15 feet below ground level.
School board president Gary Stocker says the facility meets the needs and desires of the community 20 miles northeast of Dallas. Allen High School has nearly 3,900 students.
Voters in 2009 approved a $119 million bond package that included the stadium, to be finished by July 2012.
Athletic director Steve Williams expects "full houses" at the new site, which will replace a stadium that seats 14,000. The new facility was designed by PBK Architects and will be built by Pogue Construction.
