Construction advances on Alice’s new 6,000-seat high school stadium

Steel and concrete are taking shape at Alice High School’s new stadium, a project that will replace the longtime home of the Coyotes and reshape game nights for Jim Wells County. The new venue is planned to hold up to 6,000 people and is being built to serve football, soccer, track and band, turning one of Alice ISD’s biggest capital projects into a shared stage for more than one part of campus life.

For nearly 80 years, Alice Memorial Stadium carried the city’s Friday night tradition. District leaders said the old stadium was nearing the end of its life expectancy because of age and safety concerns, and in January 2024 trustees were shown three design concepts with estimated price tags ranging from $39 million to $53 million. Alice ISD Athletic Director J.R. Castellano said at the time the new facility would be built for multiple uses, not just football, and Superintendent Anysia Trevino said, “The stadium was built 77 years ago, and so it is reaching its end of its life expectancy.”

Voters approved a 2024 bond that funded the stadium project and related athletic upgrades, giving the district the backing it needed to move ahead. The old stadium hosted its final game in November 2024, closing a chapter for generations of Alice fans who had filled its stands for decades. Before demolition, Alice ISD auctioned off parts of the facility, and 85% of the items found buyers in the Alice community. A local nonprofit even purchased the bleachers, planning to reuse them for future soccer spectators.

Demolition of the old stadium was scheduled for Dec. 16, 2024, and the district broke ground on the replacement on May 12, 2025. Now, with construction visibly advancing, the project is moving toward its target completion in May 2026. The first planned event is graduation, a fitting debut for a venue district leaders have cast as a place for both immediate use and generations of future Alice students.

The new stadium will not just be a bigger set of stands. It is meant to change how Alice gathers, from packed football nights to track meets, band performances and ceremonies that draw families from across the city and the Alice area.