Melissa Texas ISD to build $35 Million Coach Kenny Deel Football Stadium
BIG things are happening along the Highway 75 corridor. Big population growth and even bigger construction plans for Melissa ISD, proving that we take Friday Night Lights in the Lone Star State very, very, very seriously!
The home of the Cardinals (where both my kids graduated High School, in all transparency), in Northern Collin County Texas, is moving forward with the construction of a new $35 Million Dollar football stadium — the Coach Kenny Deel Football Stadium.
According to the description on the Crossland Construction website, the new stadium will:
…seat approximately 10,000 spectators. This fantastic facility will have a five-story press box with two VIP rooms, two sky perches, and a large community room. There will also be sections for media and scouts, home and visitor coaches, home and visitor radio announcers, and scoreboard and announcer staff. There will also be commons areas, multiple concessions, multiple restrooms, and visitor and official locker rooms.
Fans will have lower bowl seating above the concourse level on the west side and band seating in the south endzone.
There will be a turf field for football and soccer games.
WOW!
Interestingly, the entire population of the city of Melissa, Texas is currently just under 19,000 people. Last year (2020-2021 school year) the entire Melissa High School enrollment was a little less than 1,200 students. But, the Melissa Cardinals did just get bumped up to 5A-D2, so this new stadium plan shows they are being extremely proactive and preparing for a massive influx of students and a population explosion.
Which, as anyone who lives here knows, isn’t too far fetched in this part of North Texas right now.
To really get an idea for the scale of this new stadium, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation lists the project size to be around 51,054 ft 2 with an estimated completion date of 6/30/2023.
This rendering of the new stadium, from Parkhill Architects, certainly shows off the grand vision:
Naturally, there are some people who just don’t get it.
But, people who live & breathe Texas High School Football are showing their support.
And, not surprisingly, the Melissa ISD Football staff are certainly excited for the future!
