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Allen ISD bond passes
By Heather M. Smith, Staff writer
Allen voters traveled to the polls Saturday and overwhelming approved the $119.4 million dollar bond proposed by the Allen school district.
The vote passed at 63.66 percent with 36.34 percent against it.
“I was pleased with the results. It shows the support from the community that we’ve had for many years,” said Tim Carroll, district spokesman. “This was a different project for the community, but in the long run citizens thought it was time for it. The support for the projects is confirmed.”
Construction of the Allen ISD auditorium will cost $23.3 million and will be located at the east end of the high school. Construction should begin early in 2010. The auditorium will seat 1,500 and open in 2011. At this time, Allen High School does not have an auditorium or performing arts space on the campus. The high school has about 3,800 students and more than 3,000 students in grades six through 12 are enrolled in fine arts programs.
The multipurpose stadium will be at the corner of Exchange Parkway and Rivercrest Boulevard. It will seat 18,000 and open in August of 2012. The current Allen Eagle Stadium was built in 1976 and expanded in 1987. The current Eagle Stadium, which isn’t big enough to accommodate the students at Allen High School. The stadium seats 7,200 in permanent bleachers which is appropriate for a Class 3A high school. An additional 7,000 temporary bleachers have installed and rented at a cost of $225,000 per year. If approved, Allen ISD would build the stadium on property north of the athletic center. This new stadium would seat 18,000 including 5,000 reserved seats and allow for adequate parking on the school property around the stadium, officials say.
Carroll said to date there has been very little planning done for the auditorium and stadium. Most planning and design will begin during the summer and fall of 2009. Carroll said the auditorium will be built at the same time as the career tech wing that was part of the fall 2008 bond election. Both structures will be located on the east side of the high school. Plans to build the multipurpose stadium will begin late in 2010.
“We can’t sell all the bonds at the same time, we must stay within our financial limits so that is why the implementation of the bond election is staggered,” Carroll said.
Initial design for the auditorium and stadium were completed in the fall of 2008. Now district staff will work with architects. In July, the board approved the hiring of PBK architects to build the stadium and auditorium. STB architects, who built Allen High School, will build the career center.
The first step to building is to complete a schematic design then staff will take the schematic design plan and complete a design development, which is where a more detailed design is completed. Next, the architects will do contractor documents, which are detailed plans for contractors. From those documents, bids will be submitted, then rewarded and building can begin.
The final piece of the bond referendum will be an Allen ISD transportation, maintenance and student nutrition center. The $36.5 million project will include school bus maintenance and parking, a district maintenance department, a food service department, a transportation department, food service distribution and a district warehouse. The center is slated to open in 2014. The current Allen ISD service center was built in 1982 and houses the warehouse, maintenance, bus maintenance and food service operations.
The November 2008 bond election, which included the three projects, was delayed until May 2009. The board felt that the need for the projects had existed for some time, but needs for current and future classroom space should be met first. The community voted in favor of the 2008 bond proposal, which allowed Allen ISD to build schools and additions to meet all projected classroom needs.
“This summer work will be done based on the fall bond election including a massive renovation of Curtis Middle School,” Carroll said. “We will renovate the cafeteria at Story Elementary and install security cameras at remaining buildings.”
Carroll said there will also be a new concession stand and restroom built at the current Eagle Stadium. Both will be separate from the current building.
“I’ve seen changes in the district throughout the years and now I’m excited for the community to get a stadium,” Carroll said. “We have such good fine arts programs it will be nice to showcase them.”
For information visit www.allenisd.org.
Contact Heather Smith at HSmith@acnpapers.com.
The following are comments from the readers.
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
In no way do they represent the view of Starlocalnews.com
Gladtobeoutofallen wrote on Jun 3, 2009 9:36 AM:
" You poor lost souls. Really does this greedy machine called AISD need any of what they asked for. You allow your money to be picked out of your pocket books in a time when everyone else is cutting back spending Allen wants to raise taxes and suck more money out of its residents. Guess Washington and Allen independant school districts are one and the same. Shame on the greedy city of Allen. "
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