Earlier this year, Allen High School in Allen, Texas, was forced to close its $60 million multi-sport stadium indefinitely because of “extensive cracking” found “in the concrete of the stadium’s concourse.” In May, district superintendent Lance Hindt announced that the stadium would not be reopening for the 2014 football season.
On Monday, the district’s school board voted to use up to $2 million in existing bond funds to expedite those repairs, according to Ryan Osborne of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Back in May, consultants hired by the district “identified design deficiencies in the elevated concourse at the stadium that fail to meet building codes and reduce the safety and strength of the concourse,” Hindt said in a statement at the time.
“Our commitment to Allen students and taxpayers remains firm that the stadium be repaired properly at the expense of those responsible for the failure: the architect and the builder.”
PDK Architects and Pogue Construction, the two companies responsible for the construction of the stadium, had originally each put $1 million into an escrow account as a good-faith measure that would go toward repairs. However, both companies withdrew their escrow offers back in May after a snag between their respective insurance policies.
“I look to have repairs started in the next two weeks with this resolution passed,” Hindt told the board, per Osbourne. “I can’t allow PDK and Pogue to dictate the timeline to get this stadium open.”
The superintendent told the board that both PDK and Pogue will reimburse the district for any money spent on repairs. The district is hoping to have the stadium reopened in time for next May’s graduation ceremony.
At least one Allen student lamented the stadium’s twist of fate since opening in August 2012.
Arif Hussian, a parent and taxpayer in the district, expressed his disappointment in the latest development to CBSDFW.com’s JD Miles and Brian New.
“Why does the school have to front them the money and get the money back later?” he asked “That to me doesn’t sound like a very sound fiscal use of public funds. It doesn’t sound right to me.”
When there’s this much money at stake, legal wrangling is virtually inevitable. From the tenor of Hindt’s latest comments, however, he’s in no mood to wait for the legal process to play out.