MIDLAND, TX — Midland's two largest high school athletic programs might have reason to celebrate soon. Two pieces in a proposed $1.6 billion school bond include indoor football practice facilities for Midland Legacy and Midland High. The practice facilities would be placed on the new high school campuses that are also being proposed in the same bond.
During initial Midland ISD Bond Planning Committee meetings, Officials initially stated that the practice facilities would cost anywhere from $12 million to $15 million each. Officials updated that number on July 17 to $38.7 million each.
Of the $1.6 billion dollar bond, $1.07 billion would go to building the two new high schools. The chunk dedicated to the practice facilities would equal $77.4 million. On Wednesday, July 25, Cortney Smith, Midland ISD’s chief of Facilities and Operations, confirmed the $77.4 million price tag.
“The $38.7M (each) figure listed below is accurate,” Smith wrote on Wednesday. “That being said, and as stated at the board meeting last night, we are in the process of reviewing all dollar figures related to the bond.”
Midland Legacy Rebels 2022
“The Long-Range Planning Committee and Bond Planning Committee included these in the designs for the new high schools as this has become the standard for new high schools across the state,” Smith continued.
According to Midland ISD, the facilities will include a 100-yard football field and be approximately 86,000 square feet. Midland ISD Board Member Katie Joyner said these facilities are vital to student security and safety. She said Midland ISD needs to ensure its students can practice football, other sports, cheerleading, and dance when temperatures rise to dangerous levels or when inclement weather requires that activities move indoors.
If Midland approves this bond and moves forward with construction, it will join several other school districts across the state that have these types of facilities. Abilene approved a bond in January to add practice facilities to the Abilene High and Abilene Cooper campuses. However, the facilities in Abilene will only house 50-yard football fields covering 42,750 square feet each.
San Angelo ISD spent serious money upgrading the field house at San Angelo Stadium back in 2010. The renovations and upgrades cost more than six million dollars at the time. With other large school districts in West Texas massively expanding their athletic programs' facilities, will San Angelo ISD follow suit?
Both Central High School and Lake View High School could soon be in the market for facility improvements. Both schools currently have indoor practice facilities. However, neither is comparable to what is being proposed in Midland. Central and Lake View call San Angelo Stadium home during the athletic school year. San Angelo ISD moved all of Lake View's home football games to San Angelo Stadium in 2004.
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