A $60 Million Palace for Texas High School Football

Allen High School, which won its first Texas state title under Coach Tom Westerberg in 2008, is building a $60 million, 18,000-seat football stadium.

By GREG BISHOP
NYT

ALLEN, Tex. — From his office window, Steve Williams surveyed the chaos of construction. His view consisted of rocks and dirt beneath bulldozers and cranes, but where others might see excess, he saw something brazen, bold and gloriously Texan.

The $60 million football stadium at Allen High School, where Williams is the athletic director, was starting to take shape.

This is no ordinary stadium, in no ordinary state, where only football supersedes faith and family. Super Bowl XLV will take place a short drive southwest next Sunday at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, but folks here know all about the sport’s oversize importance. Here, even the stadium is big.

Williams — Bubba to his friends — arrived long before the boom, when Allen was more speck than sprawl, and now he cannot fathom all the fuss over this stadium, the calls from England, the Pacific Northwest, New York.

(More here.)