Architectural rendering of the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center (Courtesy of Stantec)

McKinney, Texas – McKinney ISD officials presented the MISD Board of Trustees with a construction update on the McKinney ISD Stadium and Community Event Center (CEC) at a special board meeting held this week. The presentation was led by Jason Bird, MISD Chief Financial Officer, and representatives from Manhattan Construction Company and Stantec Architecture. Manhattan was hired as the construction manager for the project and Stantec designed the stadium. Both firms have extensive experience designing similar facilities.

Manhattan Construction is responsible for building AT&T Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys; Reliant Stadium and BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston and the University of North Texas Apogee Stadium. Stantec is ranked a top 10 global design firm with over 22,000 employees and 400 locations across six continents. The firm is responsible for the recent redesign of Wrigley Field, a redesign and expansion of the University of Wisconsin Student Athlete Performance Center and the 8,000 seat Texan Drive Stadium in New Caney ISD.

The stadium and CEC construction is approximately 90 percent complete. Both the home and visitor concourses and stands have been completed, the benches and reserved seating are installed, the video board is complete, the turf has been laid and the parking lots and landscaping are nearing completion. Construction crews are currently working on interior finishes in the CEC, technology throughout the stadium and safety and security items.

Once complete, the stadium will seat 12,000 spectators for football and soccer games, band performances, marching competitions and other events. The CEC will accommodate up to 500 people in a banquet-style arrangement and approximately 800 people in a lecture-style setting. The district plans to use the CEC on a daily basis for meetings, professional development and trainings, banquets and special events.

The District addressed concerns related to concrete on the home and visitor side concourses with greater than anticipated cracking. Manhattan Construction and Stantec Architecture are investigating the concerns.

McKinney ISD has employed Nelson Forensics, a widely respected investigative and forensic engineering firm, to provide a third-party evaluation of the concerns. Manhattan and Stantec have committed to work together to address any and all of the concerns, and bear the responsibility of any associated costs.

“As we navigate though the final challenges of this historic project, the residents of McKinney can rest assured Manhattan will deliver as promised,” said Mark Penny, Senior Vice President of Manhattan Construction Company. “Once complete, the new stadium for MISD will be something the entire McKinney community will be proud of. Manhattan has a long history of delivering exceptional projects for their customers. We can assure the people of McKinney the new stadium will not be an exception to that tradition.”

Penny went on reassure the McKinney ISD Board of Trustees and community that Manhattan Construction would do whatever it takes to resolve the issues. “Our company has a 125 year history of building these. There’s not a project you can find…we’ve done 60 years worth of work in Dallas…You cannot find a single client in Dallas that would tell you that we walked away from a problem and didn’t solve it—and made them proud. We will make the voters, the residents and certainly you guys proud of that.”

Trey Laird, Principal Architect at Stantec Architecture, expressed Stantec’s commitment to address any issues prior to the opening of the stadium, “Stantec takes pride and greatly values our relationship with McKinney ISD that spans more than 30 years. Our team is fully committed to continuing our work with both McKinney ISD and Manhattan Construction in providing a facility that is well-designed and constructed and that delivers long term value to the community.”

Don Hensley, Vice President at Stantec Architecture, responded to a question about who would be paying for the repairs by stating “From our end, if it’s a design issue, then our liability would take care of that. I think I’m not speaking out of turn to say this, if it’s a construction issue, then… Mark’s group [Manhattan Construction] would…”

McKinney ISD Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Rick McDaniel, said that he expects the stadium and event center to be exceptional, but that he won’t be satisfied until it meets the District’s expectations. “We promised our community a first-class facility, and that’s what we intend to deliver, even if it takes a little longer than expected. This project will serve our community for the next 50-plus years, so the long-term durability and integrity of the project is paramount.”

The District will provide another construction update at the Board of Trustees monthly meeting in June.

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