PODCAST: Mark Vander Voort Discusses New Legacy Stadium in Katy, Texas

By Jessie Fetterling

KATY, Texas — After two years of construction, Katy Independent School District (ISD) in Katy held a dedication ceremony for Legacy Stadium in August. Designed by Dallas-based HKS Inc. with Fort Worth, Texas-based VLK Architects, the stadium joined Katy ISD’s historic Rhodes Stadium in an effort to serve the 77,000-plus students attending the eight high schools that make up the district.

At about $70 million, the new 12,000-seat Legacy Stadium is now among the most expensive high school stadiums in the country, if not the world. Of course, with a project this size, it didn’t come without its challenges — one of which included preparing the site for drainage in case of flooding, which was put to the test in September after Hurricane Harvey hit the area. School Construction News spoke with Mark Vander Voort, AIA, LEED AP, principal and senior vice president of HKS Inc., about the new facility’s design and how some of these challenges came into play. The entire interview will be available in the September/October issue being published soon.