Author Topic: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide  (Read 1500 times)

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Offline Cincinnatus

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The answer is so obviously "yes" I am not even sure why they need to vote.

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CBS News) Voters in Katy, Texas, will decide on whether to pay for a new high school football stadium with a $69.5 million price tag.

The school district's current stadium is 34 years old and was built when there were only three high schools in the area. Now seven schools must share it, and school officials say the time to build a new one is now.

When its game day in Katy, the Tigers can roar with the best of them, but the defending state champs share their aging facility with six other football teams.

School officials say the district has outgrown it. They want voters to approve the sale of bonds to kick off construction of the 14,000-seat stadium.

Asked about critics concerns that is a luxurious, kind-of-out-of-control stadium, John Eberlan, a project committee member, said: "That's not what we've designed -- not at all."

So what is what they've designed?

"We told the architects that what we needed was a stadium that would pass, and so we needed to present to the community a reasonable, conservative construction," Eberlan said.

Surprisingly, one of the plan's loudest critics is in the stands. Cyndi Lawrence is a local tea party leader. Her son -- a junior high school quarterback -- could eventually play in the proposed stadium.

"It comes out to be $5,000, almost $5,000 per seat," Lawrence said. "At 14,000 seats, I have real issue with that price tag. It's outlandish and I think the taxpayers are starting to realize its way too much."

Katy, btw, is just west of Houston. Was a very nice city when I lived in that area.

This one I have been to:

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Other Texas cities haven't shied away from big budget stadiums. Two years ago, Allen, Texas, built a $59 million, 18,000-seat stadium for the Allen Eagles. It has a state-of-the-art scoreboard, 42 concession stands, and 192 public toilets.

It was ok.  :silly:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505263_162-57610847/does-texas-need-a-$69.5m-high-school-football-stadium-voters-to-decide/
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rangerrebew

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2013, 12:08:39 pm »
But of course it's necessary!  Are you naïve enough to suggest money for schools is more important than money for football?  Good grief, this is the 21st century and nothing is more important to schools than football and basketball! :raise hand:         :dammit:

Offline aligncare

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2013, 12:52:27 pm »
I like football as well as the next guy, BUT this is insanity.

Well, as long as they don't skimp on academics, including the arts, and they have the resources to build, then let them have their coliseum to the god of football. What do I care.

Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2013, 02:10:00 pm »
Meanwhile, the Astrodome sits empty, just down the road, collecting dust.
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Online Bigun

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2013, 02:15:30 pm »
Both the Katy bond issue and the Astrodome renovation issue were, I'm happy to report,  defeated handily by taxpayers yesterday.
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline SouthTexas

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2013, 04:45:39 pm »
Both the Katy bond issue and the Astrodome renovation issue were, I'm happy to report,  defeated handily by taxpayers yesterday.

Our bond passed even though I voted against it but it wasn't for a stadium.  It did have a new field house in in it.

Several schools down here have gone to artificial turf.  Depending on it's longevity, it may actually save money because you don't have to water it. 

Offline Cincinnatus

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #6 on: November 06, 2013, 11:32:53 pm »
Both the Katy bond issue and the Astrodome renovation issue were, I'm happy to report,  defeated handily by taxpayers yesterday.

BigUn, when I moved to Houston back in the early 70s I arrived into town on a hot July evening. I went out of my way to go by the Astrodome as it was the symbol of my new home. It makes me very sad to see it has fallen on hard times and perhaps it wouldn't be wise to spend the money to refurbish it, but I would hate to see it completely abandoned or, worse, demolished.

It stood for something important in its day.
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Offline truth_seeker

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #7 on: November 06, 2013, 11:47:44 pm »
Both the Katy bond issue and the Astrodome renovation issue were, I'm happy to report,  defeated handily by taxpayers yesterday.

BigUn, when I moved to Houston back in the early 70s I arrived into town on a hot July evening. I went out of my way to go by the Astrodome as it was the symbol of my new home. It makes me very sad to see it has fallen on hard times and perhaps it wouldn't be wise to spend the money to refurbish it, but I would hate to see it completely abandoned or, worse, demolished.

It stood for something important in its day.
We've become a discard, throwaway society, apparently. The Astrodome is now obsolete, and therefore is being allowed to deteriorate?

The Los Angeles Coliseum (1923) and the Rose Bowl (1922) are nearing 100 years old.

At their peaks both seated about 100,000 fans.

Maybe I'm too old and unhip, but I'd much rather go sit on a wooden bench in an historic stadium to watch a sporting event, than in some "modern" place.

Another place that was discarded was "The Fabulous Forum."
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Offline Atomic Cow

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #8 on: November 07, 2013, 12:00:30 am »
The voters in one of our two local school districts passed a $83.5 million bond last night by a wide margin.

The bulk of it is for a new elementary school, renovating/expanding an old one, doing some much needed maintenance on the admin building, and replacing the oldest computers (5+ years) in the district.

It's not the biggest.  The last was about 60% more, but that was for a new high school which cost about $100 million.
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Offline Cincinnatus

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #9 on: November 07, 2013, 12:31:07 am »
Well I guess this might address my concerns.

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Demolition likely for Astrodome as voters reject $217 million renovation plan

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The Houston Astrodome was a technological marvel when it opened in 1965. Dubbed the "Eighth Wonder of the World," it was the first domed and air-conditioned stadium and became Houston’s defining landmark, a symbol of the city’s can-do spirit.

But eventually bigger and sleeker stadiums took its place, leaving the iconic structure that once hosted both professional baseball and football games empty and dilapidated, its future in limbo.

After Texas voters on Tuesday rejected a referendum that would have authorized up to $217 million in bonds to turn the Astrodome into a giant convention and event center, the stadium is likely to be demolished.

Emphasis added and it was all that. It's destruction is sad to contemplate.

http://www.khou.com/sports/Fate-of-iconic-Houston-Astrodome-up-to-voters-230735911.html

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Online Bigun

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #10 on: November 07, 2013, 12:45:21 am »
Both the Katy bond issue and the Astrodome renovation issue were, I'm happy to report,  defeated handily by taxpayers yesterday.

BigUn, when I moved to Houston back in the early 70s I arrived into town on a hot July evening. I went out of my way to go by the Astrodome as it was the symbol of my new home. It makes me very sad to see it has fallen on hard times and perhaps it wouldn't be wise to spend the money to refurbish it, but I would hate to see it completely abandoned or, worse, demolished.

It stood for something important in its day.

I understand the sentiment but the thing has been a complete financial boondoggle for taxpayers from it's inception. NEVER made money. Ever.

Secondly I'm not a fan of taxpayer funded enterprises to support professional sports. If those enterprises were a good deal the sports teams would do them privately and cut the taxpayers out. There is a reason why they don't do that.
 
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Online Bigun

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #11 on: November 07, 2013, 12:47:22 am »
Well I guess this might address my concerns.

Emphasis added and it was all that. It's destruction is sad to contemplate.

http://www.khou.com/sports/Fate-of-iconic-Houston-Astrodome-up-to-voters-230735911.html

Throwing another $217 million down this rat hole was not a good idea and I applaud the taxpayers for rejecting the idea!
"I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
- J. R. R. Tolkien

Offline Cincinnatus

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #12 on: November 07, 2013, 12:58:36 am »
You make a most valid point: Secondly I'm not a fan of taxpayer funded enterprises to support professional sports. If those enterprises were a good deal the sports teams would do them privately and cut the taxpayers out. There is a reason why they don't do that.
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Offline jmyrlefuller

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Re: Does Texas need a $69.5M high school football stadium? Voters to decide
« Reply #13 on: November 07, 2013, 01:12:41 am »
You make a most valid point: Secondly I'm not a fan of taxpayer funded enterprises to support professional sports. If those enterprises were a good deal the sports teams would do them privately and cut the taxpayers out. There is a reason why they don't do that.
Indeed. Professional sports, in and of itself, is generally a big money loser. The only reason the NFL is so profitable and successful is because television subsidizes it to the tune of $5 billion a year. They go along with it because they are deathly afraid of losing more eyeballs. Without that TV money, the entire NFL business model collapses.

Case in point: the UFL, the venture in which Pelosi was involved. They paid a fraction of what the NFL does, drew respectably in at least some of the markets, yet even the most popular teams still lost millions of dollars every year. They had no TV revenue. Ticket and merchandising revenue alone is not nearly enough to cover most of the expenses of a pro football team.

So, when it comes to a ten-figure investment into something like a new stadium, most teams don't have the liquid assets to sink into that. Yet the league is dangling carrots in many of these cases by awarding the Super Bowls to the newest, shiniest stadiums. If the city/county refuses... well... Los Angeles is still waiting.

The NFL has become a master of extorting money from people, municipalities and companies using fear.
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