Skip to content

Administration concerned about urgency over Tom Landry project

Mission CISD officials continue to stress the priority of finishing the repairs at Tom Landry Hall of Fame Stadium. But Assistant Superintendent for Operations Rick Rivera said the district might need an alternate option if construction is not complete by football season. 

“In my professional opinion, representing the district, I continue to stress that we need a plan B,” he said. “I do not see the presence of extra construction crews out there. We go out there every day and we count how many construction persons are working on the site, and I do not see a sense of urgency at that project.” 

The district initially hired G&G Construction nearly a year ago to complete the repairs on both sides of the stadium, but workers continued to uncover problems from the previous renovations in 2017. With unforeseen issues causing the delays, Mission CISD opted to split the repairs into two projects with the hope that they could have the home side open for seating by the 2022 football season. The district hired Terra Fuerte Construction in April to work on the visitor side and speed up the process. 

But problems continue to arise. 

In the past, Albert Treviño from Rick Hinojosa Engineering has said that G&G has requested excessive additional amounts of time to complete the project. Now, Rivera and Treviño said the contractor requests more than 20 rain delay days added to the contract, which they do not believe is justifiable. 

The contract states that rain must be severe enough to impact 50 percent of the day’s work, and the contractor must provide a weather report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. But Rene Garza from G&G said they are requesting the rain delay days because of general wetness following rain, in addition to other minor impediments. 

“We have a lot on our plate, and we’re trying our best,” Garza said. “And there’s a lot of little challenges that we run into — obstacles where we lose half a day here, half a day there. But throughout the project, that may add up to two or three weeks that we don’t request because it’s just three or four hours here, three or four hours there. It’s just part of the way the job is.” 

Even if the board of trustees was to approve the rain delay days, Garza said his goal is to still finish the project by Aug. 8 “no matter what.” 

“There’s several days I think that we should be entitled to,” he said. “But for me, to be very transparent, I need these days added to my contract to protect me for liquidated damages.” 

Representatives from the construction company have expressed concern in the past about rushing the project or not meeting the deadline due to unplanned issues, which would cause Mission CISD to charge G&G for breaching the contract.  

Another current challenge for G&G and Terra Fuerte is more electrical conduits while doing the repairs. The contractors, nor the district, know where the wiring leads. Without knowing what the conduits are for, the crews cannot complete the steps necessary to finish the project. The plans and specs also do not have the complete annotation of the wiring or where it connects. 

But despite the hiccups, Garza said he believes his crew can still finish the project on time.  

“There’s going to be times on the job site when we’re waiting for inspection, there’s nothing we can do. We just have a few guys out there. So it may come off that we may not have enough manpower, but that’s not the case. The case is that there’s only so much we can do at that moment in time,” the G&G representative said. “But I do want to assure that this project, out of all my projects, is at the top of my list, and the level of urgency is high.”

1 Comment

  1. Homer on July 1, 2022 at 1:20 pm

    They should use the original visitors side bleachers for the home fans and then put small portable bleachers on the track for visitors.

Leave a Comment