Page 13 - School Planning & Management, November 2017

“Many school systems compete against each other for academic as well as athletic endeavors,” says Andy Miller, AIA, a proj- ect architect in the Indianapolis office of Fanning Howey, an architecture, engineer- ing and design firm with offices across the country. “They are ultimately compared to each other and put in a position of having
to keep up with the Jones’. I think it becomes a race to make sure that you have the most current facilities — as good as or better than what your competition has. So, there’s a trend that there is a competition for those tax-paying enti- ties to be located in your school system. That’s a tough trend for some school administrators to overcome.”
Indeed, some would describe today’s sports venues as high-priced, extrava- gant and unnecessary. Others, however, argue that they construct only what is necessary to provide their students with high-quality, well-rounded education and that it is what their communities want, as indicated by the successful passing of bond issues to construct the facilities.
Let’s take a look at two facilities, both are
football stadiums, and you be the judge.
McKinney ISD (Texas) Stadium and Community Event Center
“As far back as 2000, the district approved funds for a new stadium,” be- gins Cody Cunningham, chief commu- nications and support services officer for McKinney ISD in Texas. “During that time, we were going through a period of explosive growth, adding 1,500 to 2,000 new students per year. As opposed to allocating the bonding capacity to a stadium, we dedicated it to the construction of new schools.” It happened again in 2005 and 2011.
Then came a 2016, $220-million
bond program. It was the district’s first available opportunity to consider if it could meet academic needs and, at the same time, add a facility that would meet the needs of the fine arts and athletics programs. The answer was yes. In fact, “One of the unique aspects of this bond program was that we were able to ad- dress facility needs while, at the same time, reduce the tax rate,” says Cunning- ham. “We have a reputation for being fiscally responsible, and we were retiring a significant amount of old bond debt.”
As a result, the district is in the midst of building a 12,000-seat, $70-mil- lion football stadium and
community events center, scheduled for completion in March 2018. One unique detail is that, because multiple high schools will use the stadium for games, it was important that fans have an identical experience regardless of where they sit, so both sides — home and visitors — are identical.
A crucial design element is an 8,000-square-foot multi- purpose event center with a
NOVEMBER 2017 / SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT 13
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MCKINNEY INDEPENDENT SCHOOL DISTRICT