BY NATE KOTISSO | THE MONITOR
After 10 weeks of playing in football stadiums as far west as Roma and as far east as Mercedes, Mission Veterans will host a game at Tom Landry Stadium for the first time this season in Friday night’s bi-district round against Brownsville Lopez.
The Mission CISD school board made the decision public early Monday afternoon.
“I’m certainly happy about it. There’s no doubt,” Mission Veterans coach David Gilpin said. “It’s a bonus for our kids and our school. It’s really nice that our seniors will at least get to play one more game there. It’s nice that our senior class here at the school will be able to attend the game there. Those are the main things to me.”
Friday night will end the season-long delay that forced Mission High and Mission Veterans to play its home games at various stadiums across the Upper Valley.
The estimated $8 million renovation project was approved by Mission CISD’s school board in November 2016 to upgrade the stadium’s bleachers and press box as well as comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Construction began in February with a target completion date set for July.
When July came, the stadium was still under construction, and a new target was set for late August, nearing the start of the football season.
“When we initially put the bid out to redo the stadium, the contractor (Holchemont Ltd. of McAllen) and architect (Alvarado Architects and Associates, Inc. of Donna) felt very confident that the timeline to have it open before the start of the season was attainable,” Mission CISD superintendent of schools Ricardo Lopez said. “The board repeatedly questioned them to ensure that this was a feasible date and not an aggressive date.”
Hurricane Harvey delayed the shipping of important pieces from the Houston area, and the stadium’s elevator was not ready for inspection by the target date.
Patriots and Eagles fans dealt with the uncertainty regarding whether they would have to travel outside city limits to attend home games.
“Looking back is 20/20,” Lopez said. “I think the fans would all agree that safety comes first. There’s no way we’re going to rush into something that is not going to be compliant or try to cut corners to get compliant. It is unfortunate that the dates did not work out. There’s no way to predict how long a project is going to take with unforeseen things coming.
“I salute the fans. Although they have been frustrated, they have been very supportive and attended the games no matter where they’ve been. I wish it was done at the beginning of the season. I wish that we were able to make that timeline a reality, but the fact is we have to trust the contractor and the architect to do what is right. Sometimes, they have to extend these timelines. We will not jeopardize any safety at all.”
While renovations were nearing an end, Gilpin and Mission Veterans (9-1) participated in a coin toss with Brownsville Lopez on Nov. 3 to determine which school would have home-field advantage if the two were to meet in the bi-district round.
Mission Veterans won the toss, earning the right to play at either Tom Landry Stadium or Valley View ISD Stadium in Hidalgo, where the Patriots played two of their previous home games.
“The board decided to make sure the stadium was safe and that all the components were in working order before we took substantial completion measures this past Friday night,” Lopez said. “The fact that it (the stadium) was fit for the playoff game was more coincidental than strategic.”
Kickoff of the game is set for 7:30 p.m. Friday in Mission.
“Hopefully, it’s going to be good for us as a football team,” Gilpin said. “We’ve always had really good support when we’ve played at Tom Landry. We know we’ll have a good crowd behind us on Friday night.”