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November 05, 2009, 08:00 AM ET
Texas A&M's Practice Facility, Once Deemed Unsafe, Is Reinforced
Texas A&M University at College Station says says its McFerrin Athletic Center—a pair of tentlike indoor practice facilities for football and track—is ready for action now that questions about its structural integrity and safety have been answered.
McFerrin is similar to a practice facility used by the Dallas Cowboys that collapsed earlier this year, injuring a dozen people (one of whom was paralyzed). Soon after that collapse, the university hired an engineering firm to examine its facility. The Associated Press acquired documents prepared by the engineering firm, which said that the McFerrin Athletic Center had not been built to withstand high winds, as required by local building codes. A vice president at the firm, Hanyes Whaley Associates, recommended in the documents that the university close the practice facility, the AP article says.
The designer of the facility, Summit Structures of Allentown, Pa., has since reinforced the structure with steel cables. Bill Byrne, Texas A&M's athletic director, told the local press that the football facility now meets the safety standards, and he expects the track facility to meet the standards "any day."
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