New McKinney stadium: $69.9M
At $62.8 million, McKinney ISD’s new high school stadium was already considered among the most expensive in the country.
Now, it might be No. 1 after school board trustees learned last week that higher building costs have pushed the price tag to $69.9 million — $7.1 million more than what voters approved in May.
The new price of the 12,000seat stadium, which includes an attached events center, shocked some trustees.
“What happened?” board president Bobby Amick asked during a work study meeting this month.
Much of the roughly 11 percent hike is attributed to skyrocketing concrete prices and additional road construction around the site, district officials said. The district initially planned to build the roads in a couple of phases, but officials have decided to construct them at the same time to help with traffic flow.
A district presentation also showed an uptick in concrete costs 50 percent above the original estimate.
“You see more concrete going up than I can remember in a long, long, long time. There are only so many companies that can provide that service,” said Jason Bird, the district’s chief financial officer, who was in the hot seat during most of Tuesday’s meeting. “This is not an item that is specific to McKinney ISD.”
Upgrades to Frisco’s Toyota Stadium are being scaled back because construction bids also came in millions of dollars over budget. As in McKinney, the spike was attributed to rising construction prices.
The bill for Katy ISD’s new 12,000-seat football stadium also has risen $4.5 million from the $58 million voters there approved, according to a news report that had also previously ranked that stadium as the nation’s costliest.
Manhattan Construction, which McKinney ISD hired to build the stadium, doesn’t foresee concrete prices relaxing. Last spring, the company had a subcontractor lined up for the project and was “shocked” when the bid came in significantly higher, said Mark Penny, senior vice president at Manhattan.
The project’s timing is an issue, he said. There’s a higher demand for work than there are people to build.
“They’re just tapped out,” Penny said.
Construction on McKinney’s stadium is anticipated to begin in September and be completed by fall 2017. If work is finished by then, games will be played there that season.
McKinney school officials decided not to scale back or postpone the project. Nor will they go back to voters for more money. Instead, they are tapping into about $8 million in undesignated 2011 and 2016 bond funds to make up the cost difference.
“What we told the voters we’d build, we need to build that,” board trustee Amy Dankel said, adding that the unforeseen price hike is concerning.
During the same meeting, district trustees also discussed lowering the property tax rate 5 cents to $1.62 per $100 taxable value.
They are slated to vote on that proposal during their regular meeting Tuesday.
In the way-too-early-to-assess chase for All-Central Texas player of the year honors, keep an eye on Georgetown teammates Chandler Herman and Beau Corrales.
Herman completed 31 of 37 passes for 424 yards and five touchdowns in the Eagles’ 49-28 victory over Fort Worth Brewer on Saturday night at McLane Stadium in Waco. Corrales, a Texas State-bound wide receiver, caught 15 passes for 191 yards and three TDs in the season-opening game for both teams.
Herman was remarkably accurate, completing nine straight passes in the first half. He ended the game connecting on 13 in a row.
By any standard, Herman was terrific as a junior last fall, when he threw 24 touchdown passes against only four interceptions in an 8-4 season. Yet Herman and his head coach, Jason Dean, said the quarterback will be even better in 2016. Why? “I’ve got a chip on my shoulder,” said Herman, who has not received any college scholarship offers yet. “So many people have doubted me.”
“We each know what the other is going to do,” Herman said.
Corrales, a big target at 6 feet, 4 inches, said he expects his quarterback to have a great senior season.
“Chandler worked his tail off in the offseason to get ready for this,” Corrales said.
Junior Caden Leggett also had a starring role for the Eagles on Saturday night. He caught six passes for 97 yards and opened up the third quarter with a 91-yard kickoff return for a TD, a play that increased Georgetown’s lead to 35-21.
After Leggett’s touchdown, the game’s outcome was never in doubt, although Dean said “we need to protect the football better,” referring to the Eagles’ four turnovers. “That might be a product of playing our first game of the season.”
Herman completed 18 of 23 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns in the first half, giving the Eagles a 28-21 lead at the break.
LBJ 46, Waco University 7: LBJ split its six touchdowns between five players on offense, defense and special teams in routing Waco. The visiting Jaguars moved to 1-0 with a blowout victory that came at the expense of former LBJ coach Keith Willis.
“We’ve got a slogan that says, ‘Everybody eats,’ ” said LBJ junior Deon Collins. “If everybody does their job, we know we’ll be good as a team.”
LBJ struck first as Alaric Frederick turned the opening kickoff into a 100-yard return, and Collins’ 48-yard punt return in the final minute of the second quarter gave the Jaguars a 27-7 lead at halftime. Those two scores on special teams sandwiched two long touchdowns produced by the LBJ offense — a 62-yard catch by junior Trelyn Thomas and Collins’ 56-yard run.
A year removed from finishing 7-0 in games it led at halftime, LBJ didn’t start a different trend in 2016. The LBJ defense recorded Aundoy Johnson’s interception return for a TD and a safety on backto-back snaps in the fourth quarter, and Jaguars sophomore quarterback Brian Batts also scored on a 23-yard run.
LBJ entered this season with four players vying to replace DeAndre Wytaske as its quarterback, and the Jaguars used a rotation of junior Aaron Green, Batts and Thomas on Saturday. Batts led the Jaguars with his 77 rushing yards while Green had a touchdown toss.
Killeen Ellison 56, Leander 21: In a game delayed a day because of weather concerns, Ellison rolled to a 42-0 halftime lead and picked up an easy non-district victory.
Ellison’s Carl Robinson III passed for 288 yards and four touchdowns in the victory. Eagles receiver Jayden Smith grabbed five passes for 217 yards, including an 85-yard touchdown.