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Texas town spends $60 million on new HS Football Stadium...

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posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 03:06 AM
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reply to post by paxnatus
 

Thanks for the kind reply and I appreciate what you said, I did get a bit lost in the District paperwork and before I knew it, had notes and way too much time past. lol... I'd love to say 'I meant to do that', but it came as much a surprise to me as anyone. With everything I'd seen about Allen, I was surprised to find any serious debt, let alone so much and the plans to stretch it over 50 years. That's quite a kick of the can.

I'm finding I really enjoy the research like this.. speaking of schools, I think my college created a monster.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 03:35 AM
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reply to post by jhn7537
 


They saved all that money by removing science from their classrooms and subsituting it with a bible. Now they can get something that really matters like concussions for young adults... Stupid kids need more jesus... Its a win win.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 07:49 AM
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Originally posted by riddle6
reply to post by bigfatfurrytexan
 


I think most people really don't understand how big football (especially high school football) is here. Its one of those things that you have to see first hand to get a true grip of. My school didn't have a very good football team (we won a grand total of 2 games my first 2 years
), but it still took over the school. Our basketball team always made the playoffs, but no one really ever made a fuss about them. It was always about the football team. I was in the marching band, and we even got some of the benefit. We were really good, but it was still weird to see the football parents actually pay attention to us because we were a part of the experience.

I guess if anyone was interested enough to see how its like, they can just watch the movie "Friday Night Lights." The show by the same name does a really good job as well. This stadium will be used, and it will be used a lot. It will easily make back what it cost in construction. Voters even ok'd the money to build this (and other facilities), so its not like the district took a bunch of money and did this without running it by anyone first. This stadium will also be used for at least 15-20 years. Books and computers are lucky if they last a quarter that. Educational items should be updated and of the best quality, but let's be reasonable here. What kid will actually take care of a book or a computer? If the district is looking to spend money like this, then they'd be better off spending it on something that will last for many years and that everyone can use.


An important point to add: the voters DID approve this, via a bond vote. That is how these things get funded in Texas. In my hometown, we just finished construction on replacing 4 of our 6 Elementary schools. The oil boom is good to us, and we are taking advantage by updating our schools. Yes, we did put in new turf on our field (the drought is hard on the grass), but that $200k was nothing compared to building 4 new elementary schools.

Each districts residents do what they think is needed, what is important to them. With obesity running rampant in this nation, I am shocked that people get up in arms about our communities supporting athletics.

Another key point about those large stadiums....they generate the revenue that supports all other athletic programs throughout the year. You like your little girl playing softball and basketball, or your sun getting to play in the band? That is paid for with Football revenues in here. I am unsure how other districts are, but at the districts in this area just about every extracurricular activity is paid for because of football. So if you value debate, if you value music, if you value interscholastic academic competition (like math club, etc)....that is what this stadium will fund for that school.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 08:03 AM
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I'd like to see the grade point average of the kids kicking a ball around in a 60 million dollar stadium.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 08:20 AM
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Originally posted by korath
I'd like to see the grade point average of the kids kicking a ball around in a 60 million dollar stadium.


I would LOVE to show it to you. There has been study after study after study done to show that athletic activity boost brain development in kids. Me personally? Well, i like to think I am no drooling idiot. I was an all state football player, and a champion weightlifter. I started my school day at 5am in the weight room, and ended it at 12a at my desk in my bedroom. I even had time to make all state band.

In our state there is a strict "no pass no play" guideline. As a matter of fact, in my hometown, our principle (who is a former athletic director and brother of the current athletic director and my junior high coach) instituted even more strict rules that actually kept our team out of the playoffs for 2 consecutive years.

Given what I see and know, I would suspect that you would find that during football season, student grades are at their highest all year. Otherwise, no one participates.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 08:50 AM
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reply to post by jhn7537
 


I haven't read through the pages yet, but my high school Webb City Football, used to have lines forming on Friday night before we even got out of school at 3:30 in the afternoon!! The town had 7,000 people, but the football stadium held 8,000 and it was sold out for every game. We drew in bigger crowds than the local college! We have 10 state championships in the last 20 years, and we went to the championship game most of those other 10 years! The football players eat free most places in town, the football team draws in a lot of money for the school. The school is an "A" academic school mostly due to the influx of parents moving their kids there to play sports. They boast the only undefeated baseball season in Missouri history, they have several seasons where they won state championships in every major male and female sport including basketball (girls and boys), football, baseball, softball, and volleyball in the same year!

The school board in that town would not bat an eye at building a 60 million dollar stadium, because it would be a GREAT investment.

The football program leads the way to what is also a stellar band, stellar choir, stellar girls sports program, and stellar academics.

In 2010 at the State Championship game, they employed the Mercy Rule for the first time ever in a State Championship game, because Webb City was ahead 35-0 at the end of the first quarter of play, and 49-0 at halftime!

All this from a school with a 98% white student body, rarely any Division I athletes, no attention from national publications like USA Today, and in a farm community where they sometimes dismiss school during hay baling season! They still say a prayer both in the locker room, and over the stadium loudspeakers before the games, and they still make the students wear long trousers and dress appropriately in school, and they say the national anthem every morning. (Bobby Bowden came there once to recruit Grant Wistrom, and the entire town shut down so people could line up at the barbershop door while Bobby got a haircut from a school board member. There was a parade in town to see him off!)

A school that can afford a $60M stadium, and get the community to support it, is probably an excellent school that we don't need to criticize. How about we focus our attention on the schools that barely have enough volunteers to fill out a roster, have girls getting pregnant in the bathrooms during class, and have metal detectors at the doors. (My old WC school probably has a dozen or more rifles in the trucks in the parking lot at this very moment. No need for metal detectors there.)

How about we focus our disbelief where it is more well-deserved, where the kids are suffering, not where they are excelling.
edit on 10-8-2012 by getreadyalready because: (no reason given)

edit on 10-8-2012 by getreadyalready because: (no reason given)


ETA:

I remember there was some controversy a few years ago when they tore down the old stadium seating and put up bleachers, so I went to look at the cost and the seating capacity. Apparently it was a $2M renovation, and it now seats 5,000 people, and it is dual football and soccer stadium. It supposedly saves the town $30k to $40k just on field maintenance costs, and it saved them from building a soccer stadium. $2M well spent.

edit on 10-8-2012 by getreadyalready because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 09:07 AM
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Originally posted by korath
I'd like to see the grade point average of the kids kicking a ball around in a 60 million dollar stadium.


My old High School, where football reigns supreme is 16th in the State for academics, college prep, and basic proficiencies, #1908 nationwide ranking according to US NEWS. And that is out of over 21,000 schools ranked.

They offer 3 concert bands, 2 jazz bands, pep band, winter guard, winter percussion, solo/ensembles, pit orchestra.

They received 4 of the all state Choir selections making up 25% of the selections from the 26 schools in their state district out of their one school alone!

They don't put a lot of math league and math counts awards in the paper for me to grab links, but when I went to school there, I won the state "master's round" in the MathCounts competition, and I won every other state Math League, and Math Counts awards for several years, in addition to being in all-state choir, playing football, wrestling, working night jobs at McDonalds and delivering pizzas, and graduating early!

I think a school, and a student, can have an ENORMOUS sports presence, and still have an ENORMOUS academic and musical presence, and teach good midwestern values all at the same time!!


edit on 10-8-2012 by getreadyalready because: (no reason given)

edit on 10-8-2012 by getreadyalready because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 10:10 AM
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I currently live in Allen , have kids that go to the HS as well...

I can say I think the cost was a bit much, BUT we sure as hell did need a new stadium, bad. Allen is a kick ass city , like 2 years ago was #1 in the state for safest city and #9 in the US. Our team has been to state every year for like the past 10+ yrs. Almost every quarterback and running back in the last 10 years have gone to top tier colleges. We were #1 in the state and for a while #1 in the Nation last year. The school is state of the art, has everything you could ever want or need and the grades are as good as you can get, its the reason I moved there some 10 years ago, the schools for my kids and it was the best move I ever made. Is Allen perfect? no we have our share of dumb asses in certain positions like anyone else. But they are pretty responsible with how they get and use money and it shows. I sat in on a meeting and the city and county leaders were there to discuss other things and we got into the stadium thing. They explained the whole thing pretty well as I was one that had questions and concerns on the cost. We will never pay the stadium off was the base line, they said this. But we will never have to pay to run it or maintain it, it will do this itself with what it takes in for all its used for no question. Lots of school things got upgraded and built in this deal and I pay the taxes to live here and use it so i think my opinion should count.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 12:30 PM
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Originally posted by Wiz4769
I currently live in Allen , have kids that go to the HS as well...

I can say I think the cost was a bit much, BUT we sure as hell did need a new stadium, bad. Allen is a kick ass city , like 2 years ago was #1 in the state for safest city and #9 in the US. Our team has been to state every year for like the past 10+ yrs. Almost every quarterback and running back in the last 10 years have gone to top tier colleges. We were #1 in the state and for a while #1 in the Nation last year. The school is state of the art, has everything you could ever want or need and the grades are as good as you can get, its the reason I moved there some 10 years ago, the schools for my kids and it was the best move I ever made. Is Allen perfect? no we have our share of dumb asses in certain positions like anyone else. But they are pretty responsible with how they get and use money and it shows. I sat in on a meeting and the city and county leaders were there to discuss other things and we got into the stadium thing. They explained the whole thing pretty well as I was one that had questions and concerns on the cost. We will never pay the stadium off was the base line, they said this. But we will never have to pay to run it or maintain it, it will do this itself with what it takes in for all its used for no question. Lots of school things got upgraded and built in this deal and I pay the taxes to live here and use it so i think my opinion should count.


And you have the advantage of being in the Metroplex. When playoff season comes around, that state of the art stadium will be used 2-3 times per week for playoff games. Then the money will REALLY pour in.

Our stadium rentals for playoff games here, with just 4 or 5 a year (crappy stadium, decent location) accounts for about 20% of the annual revenues for athletics.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 01:17 PM
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reply to post by Wiz4769
 

Well, I am honestly curious. On the prior page I posted a message with the Allen School District 2011/2012 Budget with a focus on the finances of this project. In the 08/09 Development program and bond issues, the district was also saddled with the better part of 30 million dollars in debt requiring service every year through 2040. I have the chart over in that msg for amortization It's not a pretty picture and the assumptions the district made those figures on seem overly rosey...especially on a 50 year timeline.


My question, since you live there, is how much of that 50 year debt was everyone told about regarding what the district will be paying all that time? I know you said the Stadium is self-sufficient and that appears to be true by the budget as well. I don't see any outlay into the future projections past 2012 for running it....but the budget does show the District servicing both the interest and principle for the bonds out of general funds.

If you don't mind..I'd also noticed a year after the development program was started, a district wide salary freeze was instituted and remains as indefinite according to that budget...as well as a hiring freeze beyond essential people which that section sounded like it was going to be tight for. The teachers aren't complaining?



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 01:25 PM
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Did they name it Sandusky park?
I'm pretty disgusted with football. It's a microcosm of the macrocosm of corruption and vile filth that this country has turned into...a giant guilded turd.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:09 PM
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reply to post by Wrabbit2000
 


Everyone knew it was going to cost and never be paid off. But it really doesnt cut into the school money like most think , it in no way took anything away from teachers or the school.

And for the hiring freeze and all that, the entire state had to do this, you can look that up. Allen did not really have to let teachers go like other districts, because they already budgeted a big chunk before they even got the numbers back from the state, my wife works for another nearby district, one that has always been high on the list for wanting to move there for the schools, and they we screwed big time and had to let hundreds of positions go and cut all kinds of things. There was nothing you could do about that, most states were hit by this just like the rest of the economy. Allen really did make it out of that as good as they could have considering how bad things got. Rick Perry did not take the money from Obama so everyone just had to trim the fat so to speak. Some had alot more to trim than others...



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:14 PM
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Originally posted by HEYJOSE
Did they name it Sandusky park?
I'm pretty disgusted with football. It's a microcosm of the macrocosm of corruption and vile filth that this country has turned into...a giant guilded turd.


How so?

Because of Sandusky? There are pedophiles in every profession, it has nothing to do with football.
Because of Free-Agency? There are free agents in every profession, and loyalty doesn't mean what it used to.
Because of concussions? Ask the players, they knew the risks, and they would make the same decisions again.
Because of marketing, beer, scantily clad women? That same marketing happens for soft-drinks, cheeseburgers, golf, music, and TV programming.

What is it that makes football a turd?



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:17 PM
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i just had to post a reply on this because as a brit we tend to think our football is better..

imo this is wrong i love the american version it's far superiour........................anyway back on topic.......60 mill seems excessive for a highschool team but if friday night lights has any basis in reality it's not really that surprising...


i have heard highschool football in texas comes second only to church and if these deeply religious people are comfortable with spending that obscene amount of money when there are kids starving in their own cities i say good for them.....





posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:32 PM
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reply to post by Ph03n1x
 



but if friday night lights has any basis in reality it's not really that surprising...


I cried at that movie. It definitely has basis in reality. In fact, I'd call it true-to-life in a lot of Midwestern towns, Texas towns, Southern towns, and even a few Florida towns.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:34 PM
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Originally posted by getreadyalready
reply to post by Ph03n1x
 



but if friday night lights has any basis in reality it's not really that surprising...


I cried at that movie. It definitely has basis in reality. In fact, I'd call it true-to-life in a lot of Midwestern towns, Texas towns, Southern towns, and even a few Florida towns.




The tv show was better....just sayin



does college football in the southern states get the same kind of attention and funding?



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:38 PM
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reply to post by TXRabbit
 


Maybe instead of putting up that 60 mil stadium, just let the taxpayers keep their money and stimulate the economy themselves instead.
They didn't have to spend the money and they didn't have to raise teachers salaries either.
edit on 10-8-2012 by rickymouse because: (no reason given)



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 02:38 PM
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reply to post by Ph03n1x
 


I never liked the TV show, and it wasn't nearly as realistic. It was ok, but the movie captured the real experience.

Yes, college football in the southern states, and all over the country takes it to the extreme. A college football coach will earn a 7-figure salary, and the towns shut down on game day. It's all about football. Alabama, Georgia, Florida State, Florida, Texas, Oklahoma are all the states I've had personal experience, and the experience is intense!!! A friend of mine was on the sideline at the Auburn vs. Alabama game a couple of years ago, and it was better than any NFL experience.

A drinking town, with a football problem.



posted on Aug, 10 2012 @ 04:18 PM
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reply to post by Wiz4769
 

I'm glad to hear those numbers won't be serious at this point in time. I hope the financial assumptions don't change too much, I'd also noticed the state cut 20 million from your district going into the new school year. Sounds like they managed a way around that too. I'd seen where Allen was one of the wealthier districts in Texas. That is why the debt got my attention... Hmm... Everyone knew it would never get paid off and were fine?

Oh well... Not my town or even state. lol... If it works for ya down there, more power to ya and I hope that never changes for everyone there! The kids must love all the new changes and renovations I was reading about. From their perspective it sounds like School crossed with a little Wonderland for a couple campuses.



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