Plans for second stadium take another step toward 2017 opening
Schlotzsky’s manager Carlos Dega’s voice rises in excitement when he discusses the opening of Katy ISD’s second stadium directly across from his Franz Road location in the fall of 2017, despite the mixed views he hears from customers about the project.
“It is a big deal,” Dega said. “It’s going to be a large stadium; so we are hoping to bring in lots of business because of it. I have many customers that agree with the stadium, but there are some here in Katy that say it is not necessary, that we don’t need it.”
Dega and Katy residents can now get a confirmed picture of what the widely debated stadium will look like after the district approved its official design on July 27, when trustees also approved construction of the district’s 15th junior high school and eighth high school, as well as renovation designs to two elementary schools, Cimarron and Memorial Parkway.
The stadium design comes more than 1½ years after 54 percent of voters turned down a $100 million facilities bond that included $69 million for a 16,000-seat stadium, field house and parking.
Voters approved a $748 bond last November, with $58 million being assigned for a scaled back but similar stadium to feature 12,000 seats. But as Dega indicated, some Katy residents remain unconvinced of the need for the stadium.
The district’s chief operations officer, Tom Gunnell, argues that the stadium will meet a critical need.
“Katy ISD currently has seven varsity football teams playing in one stadium, and in 2017, the district will open (another high school),” Gunnell said in a written response. “The second stadium provides an additional space for athletic events, and decreases the use of outside venues and Wednesday night games. The toughest challenge has been finding a way to broadly communicate the real needs of the district and have them resonate in the community including the need for a second stadium … (It) could not be realistically delayed any longer.”
The stadium, located in the backdrop of the district’s Rhodes Stadium, will boast a fine arts plaza behind the scoreboard and future assembly areas in its two-story field house.
Greenery space is planned between the two stadiums. Rhodes Stadium, which opened in 1979, has 9,768 seats. The stadium complex will be the only venue in Texas with two operational stadiums located next to each other, according to the district.
Both the home and visitor sections will have two stories of seating, with grass seating offered in four sections on the sides of the stands and parking for 4,000 vehicles.
“We worked closely with Katy ISD to identify what were most important aspects for the district,” said Todd Lien, the principal in charge of Katy projects for Fort-Worth based VLK Architects. VLK is the associate architect company for Dallas-based HKS Inc., which is leading the project. “I think the biggest thing was really designing the site in conjunction to create the plaza area between stadiums to be used for different events such as community festivals … and creating the fine arts plaza.”
District representatives toured several facilities in the design process, including the University of North Texas’ $78 million HKS-designed Apogee Stadium in Denton.
The construction of the second stadium next to Rhodes Stadium could cause concern for heavy traffic on game days where both facilities are used, but Lien said that should not be an issue.
“There will be no problems because it will be very well-managed by the district, and there will be staggered start times for games. Research was done to make sure it would work,” Lien said.
Site clearing for the stadium began in May, with construction scheduled to begin in October, according to the design presentation. The facility will be completed in March 2017.
Besides stadium costs, almost half of the approved November bond is to build six new schools, including Junior High 15 and High School 8. Other funds are for the major renovations of six campuses, including Cimarron and Memorial Parkway elementary schools.
Cimarron’s renovations will include a complete reconstruction of administrative offices, with a new secure vestibule at the entry lobby to require visitors to stop by the reception desk before continuing inside, as well as new offices, conference rooms and a teacher lounge. A sign to identify the school on the front walls will also be added and renovations will be made to the library.
Likewise, Memorial Parkway’s renovations will include its entry being more clearly identified, as well as added classrooms to eliminate portable buildings, added parking and a facelift to some classrooms to meet the needs of fine arts programs.
The district’s 15th junior high and eighth high school will both be in the Ventana Lakes subdivision on Fenetre Forest Street. Both are projected to open in fall 2017, the same time the second stadium makes it debut. The schools will provide relief to the Katy and Morton Ranch secondary campuses when they open.
The district projects 95,000 students will fill its schools by 2023, about 25,000 more than it had at the end of the 2014-15 school year.
“Every one of these facilities will serve the needs of our students in the near foreseeable future,” Gunnell wrote. “It is also a proactive and responsible step in addressing the inevitable growth of our district.”