The Katy (Texas) school district has opened the Mike Johnston Field at Legacy Stadium, a $70 million facility that some are calling the most expensive high school stadium ever.
The suburban Houston district held a dedication ceremony Thursday at the multipurpose facility with performances by eight high school bands.
The Houston Chronicle reports that the 12,000-seat, $70.3 million stadium has numerous amenities: a 1,500-square-foot high-definition scoreboard, a ribbon board, and a field house. The top floor of the press box houses a film deck, police command station and hospitality suites for corporate entities complete with a flat screen TV and viewing decks.
Two 2,600-square-foot locker rooms are another staple in the field house. They can be divided into four at 1,300 square feet each. There also is a co-ed training room.
A game-day operations room and designated rooms for officials are also in the field house, A first-aid room is available for players and fans who need medical attention.
The district says Legacy Stadium was approved by voters as part of a 2014 bond issue to provide the steadily growing district with a state-of-the-art multipurpose second stadium. The facility will benefit the more than 77,000 students attending Katy schools, as well as their families and other residents as an athletic and fine arts venue for Katy ISD schools.
The designers of the stadium are HKS Architects and VLK Architects.
The first football game at the stadium is scheduled for Aug.31.
