Pricy high school stadiums are the norm

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two weeks ago, voters in Katy approved a $748 school construction bond and $58 million of the kitty will go to a new high school football stadium -- making it most expensive in the Houston area.

ABC-13 examined the costs and amenities of high school stadiums across the state and found that voters saying 'yes' to big money football stadiums isn't very new.

"If you remember, the 'Dome' only cost $25 million," said Ron Bible who might be the state's biggest high school football fan. He referenced the AstroDome and its 1965 price tag, which is well below many modern day stadium costs.

Bible's been rooting for Channelview ISD high school football since 1957.

"We saw the first game Channelview played," he said. "They got beat by Waller 30-7."

Back in the late 1950s, Channelview high school football was played on a dirt field with a couple bleachers on the sideline and just a few dim lights above.

"The coaches couldn't read the game film because it was so dim," Bible said.

Things have changed since then.

Today, Channelview plays in an 8,000 seat stadium with artificial turf and plenty of light. It cost Channelview taxpayers $27 million in 2012.

Channelview isn't too out of the ordinary at that price. Research done by ABC-13 shows that's below average for recent high school stadium costs.

In addition to Katy's $58 million stadium -- complete with 12,000 seats, artificial turf and video scoreboard -- Clear Creek ISD is currently building a $42 million 10,000 seat stadium.

Conroe's Woodforest stadium was $21 million.

Cy-Fair's Berry Center cost $80 million but that also included an indoor arena and food distribution center.

Bob McSpadden runs TexasBob.com, a comprehensive listing of 1,200 texas high school stadiums. He points out that football is a big deal and it costs big money to compete.

Indeed, the amenities at these new stadiums are impressive, from press boxes, to meeting rooms, to VIP seating, to giant video scoreboards.

"Thirteen percent of high school stadiums have video scoreboards," he said.

The real driver, he said, is parking. Schools have to build a spot for every three seats and with most big stadiums now packing more than 10,000 fans, that's millions of dollars in parking costs alone.

"When you start with a clear plot of land, the costs can get pretty high, pretty quick," McSpadden said.

ABC-13 research also showed that high-priced stadiums are nothing new. Houston's Delmar stadium was built in 1959 for just under $12.9 million.

Today few consider it the nicest in town but with inflation that cost would be $102 million in today's dollars, almost twice as expensive as anything on the drawing board today.