Call it the palace of high school football: A gleaming $60 million facility with seats for 18,000 roaring fans, a 38-foot-wide high-definition video screen, corporate sponsors and a towering upper deck.

Welcome to the new home of Eagles Football.

As school districts across the country struggle to retain teachers, replace outdated textbooks and keep class sizes from ballooning, the wealthy, burgeoning Dallas suburb of Allen is preparing to christen its new stadium with a sold-out Friday night matchup against defending state champions Southlake Carroll.

It’s not the biggest high school stadium in football-mad Texas, but Eagle Stadium is the grandest, with a spacious weight room for the players and practice areas for Allen High School’s wrestling and golf teams. The school district decided to build it in a down economy, knowing full well it will never recoup the costs.

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