WATCH: Inside Melissa High School’s $35,000,000 football stadium with a capacity of 10,000

Melissa High School in Melissa, Texas, made headlines with the opening of its $35 million football stadium last year. It is named after Executive Director of Operations Kenny Deel, who is a long-time teacher and coach at Melissa schools. It features a remarkable 10,000-seat capacity, which can seat more than half of the town’s 19,000 residents.

This state-of-the-art facility opened a year ago and highlights Melissa’s enthusiasm for high school football and its foresight in planning for future growth.

On Sunday, Front Office Sports shared a video of the football stadium, a year after it was thrown open.

Melissa High School, with an enrollment of just 1,300 students, anticipates significant expansion. A demographic study predicts the student population will increase by 700 annually, potentially doubling high school enrollment to 2,700 by 2030.

To accommodate this growth, the community approved a substantial $400 million bond in 2021, securing a 79.8% voter approval rate. This bond not only funded the stadium but also set the stage for new elementary and middle schools, addressing the educational needs of a burgeoning population.

The stadium itself rivals facilities at many colleges, boasting luxury boxes, a large scoreboard and an advanced training center. Melissa's previous stadium, with a capacity of 3,100, no longer met the demands of the community, especially given the high school football team’s top ranking in the state's 5A-D2 division.

Inaugural game at Melissa’s $35 million Kenny Deel Stadium exceeded expectations

Excluding one of the inhabitants of the small city, Melissa, Texas, the show celebrated 10,000 fans at the first engagement at Kenny Deel Stadium. Exceeding a simple playing field, this $35 million building served up an experience unlike any other when the Melissa Cardinals came out to the field on Aug. 23, 2023.

Defensive end Nigel Smith was amazed by the energy and said:

"It really gives you a boost... it gets you real riled up and gets you high wanting to make a play with an audience and the crowd cheering."

The crowd for the inaugural game included Kenny Deel, the former coach and namesake of the stadium. Deel, honored at midfield before kickoff, said:

"I still get emotional about it... I've known about this a long time but the reality of it is here tonight."

Unique to this stadium, the upper floors house classrooms, including a medical training room where students assist professionals during games. Duke Sparks, Director of Community Partnerships and Athletic Operations, said:

"There's no stadium anywhere that puts academics in the stadium... This truly is a project of love for the community of Melissa."

John McGraw, a former student, reflected on the achievement and said:

"A $35 million stadium in a town this size... it's pretty mind-blowing."

Among Melissa High School’s notable alumni is Brendon Lewis, a quarterback for the Nevada Wolf Pack. Interestingly, the stadium was not prominently featured in promotional materials for the bond.

Instead, references were made to the "final phase of Melissa High School." Melissa, a wealthy suburb with a median household income of $127,000—nearly double the state average—has joined the ranks of other Texas towns like Allen, which built a $60 million high school stadium in 2012.