Concrete repairs at the nearly $70 million McKinney ISD stadium are nearing completion, allowing for full use of the facility that originally opened last August.

Repairs on the stadium began in mid-May and will be complete before Aug. 9, according to district officials.

In January 2018, Manhattan Construction and architect Stantec investigated concrete cracking found throughout the stadium. Cracking was found at the visitor concourse, home concourse, and visitor and home concourse lower bowl wall, according to reports from Nelson Forensics. Nelson is an investigative and forensics engineering company hired by MISD to review cracking at the stadium.

Reports conducted by Nelson found cracking in the stadium's concrete does not pose a "life safety" concern, which allowed the district to use the stadium during the 2018-19 football and soccer seasons and have limited use of the community events center.

"The No. 1 goal is to make sure that [the stadium is] ready for the next season but also that [repairs] are done right," Cody Cunningham, MISD’s chief communications and support services officer, said in a previous interview with Community Impact Newspaper. "So if it takes a little longer, I think that’s less of a concern to us as long as it’s done when we need it done and it’s all done right and we don’t have to go back and do anything later.”

Repair costs associated with the areas of concern will be paid for by Manhattan and Stantec, MISD Chief Financial Officer Jason Bird said during a June 2018 board meeting.

When contacted by Community Impact Newspaper more than a year later in early July, Manhattan referred all comments to MISD. Stantec was unavailable for comment as of July 22.

District officials said they did not have a cost estimate for repairs.

 

The community event center will continue to be used for MISD and city events.

"Contractors will be completing the final touches on the event center throughout the fall, and the spring is a particularly heavy use time for both the district and the city," Shane Mauldin, communications coordinator for MISD, said in an email. "So, the district has decided to wait another year before making the [center] available for public rental. We will, however, continue to use the stadium for outside events such as the NCAA Division II National Football Championship, UIL playoff games and band competitions."

Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional information from McKinney ISD. The community event center will not be open for public rental until next year, according to district officials.