New stadium faces delay, additional costs

The Smithville school district’s athletic stadium project could be delayed past the start of the football season and could cost the school about $1 million more than planned after a review of city ordinances and studies needed for approval of a building permit.

With construction of the athletic facility halted by the city in mid-January, the school board called a special meeting Jan. 30 to discuss the project with city officials, PBK Architects, builder Drymalla and BBG, the firm hired by the city to ensure the project conforms to city ordinances.

The city has not yet issued a building permit for the project. The athletic facility and a new junior high school were approved as part of a $35 million bond in 2016.

BBG said there are three areas that the facility’s architect needs to address before the project can be reviewed and approved by the city — additional parking, a drainage study and a traffic impact assessment.

The city requires 400 additional parking spaces for the facility, which could cost the school more than $1 million and might not be approved until March. BBG, the firm hired by the city, has decided not to count the high school parking lot as additional parking for the athletic facility because those spaces are for use for the high school. Architects argued that most likely events would not be held at the school and stadium at the same time.

The city ordinance requires one parking spot for every four seats for a community center, theater, auditorium and church, but stadiums are not included in the list.

The ordinance also allows the Planning and Zoning Commission, though typically only an advisory board to the City Council, to “make a determination” on whether that ratio has to be adhered to for the athletic stadium. The panel’s next meeting is March 6.

District officials also need to hire a firm to complete a drainage study for the proposed school site, including information about where the water would go to be in compliance with the Texas Water Code’s rule on no negative impact to nearby properties.