Bond 2025 Delivers: A First Look at the New Hornet Stadium Renovations
Pfluger Architects, the firm leading the design of the district’s Bond 2025 projects, and Weaver & Jacobs Constructors, the district’s Construction Manager at Risk, presented the Hornet Stadium Improvements project to the Board of Trustees at its regular meeting on July 30, 2026. The presentation included site plans along with conceptual renderings and a short design video produced by Pfluger Architects. Everything shown is a design concept rather than a photograph of finished construction. The work stays within the scope Flour Bluff voters approved under Proposition C.
Work on the new stadium lighting, installed by Facility Solutions Group, is already under way. The new Musco LED lights will be ready for the 2026 season, making the lighting upgrade the first piece of the stadium project that fans will see in place. The LED system improves visibility for athletes and officials, safety in the stands and surrounding parking areas, and video quality for broadcast.
The design reworks the arrival experience at the stadium. Plans include improved entry paving, a new ticket booth, new perimeter fencing and gates, and improved parking.
A Friday night at Hornet Stadium brings together students, parents, alumni, visitors, and the community, along with football players and coaches, cheerleaders, the band, the Stingline dance team, NJROTC, student organizations, and student broadcasters. The improvements were designed around all of them.
The largest change is a full reconfiguration of the seating. The existing visitor-side stands will be taken down, and a new home-side grandstand will be constructed in their place. When the project is complete, the current home side, which was built in 1950, will serve as the visitor side. The new grandstand includes new restroom facilities and a press box, providing modern space, power, and connectivity for coaching staff, game management, media, and student broadcasters. The design also expands ADA-compliant seating, improves concession queuing so lines move more efficiently, and adds improved paving and fencing around the track.
Longevity was a design driver throughout the project. Building on the coast means meeting stringent windstorm requirements, and the design relies on strong masonry and corrosion-resistant metals selected for those conditions. Materials and colors were chosen to match the existing Hornet Athletics sports identity. Salt air and humidity are demanding conditions on the coast, and building to withstand them ensures this investment serves Hornet students and families for decades to come.
The design also reflects a series of workshops held with district staff, coaches, and stakeholders during the planning phase. Those sessions produced five guiding principles applied across Bond 2025 projects, focused on innovation, flexibility, student wellness, school pride, and athletic performance. Every dollar in the design was weighed against those priorities.
Hornet Stadium serves students and staff across the entire district, along with the surrounding community and Naval Air Station Corpus Christi. Beyond football, it hosts track and soccer competitions, band and Stingline performances, NJROTC events, field days, school assemblies, and youth and community programs throughout the year. It’s also in daily use for practice, with athletic teams, cheerleaders, the band, and the Stingline working on the field, track, and support spaces well outside the events fans see on Friday nights. That’s why durability guided every decision in its design.
Both the home and visitor stands will remain in use for the 2026 football season. Demolition of the visitor stands will begin after the season ends, which keeps every home game at home and avoids the added cost and disruption of playing elsewhere. Construction of the new home-side grandstand follows from there. The district will share information about parking, entry routes, and any game-day changes as the season approaches.
The stadium project is expected to be complete by the start of the 2027 football season.
Thanks to the ongoing support of the Flour Bluff, Padre Island, Naval Air Station, and Corpus Christi Army Depot communities, Flour Bluff ISD remains committed to transparency and responsible stewardship throughout all Bond 2025 projects.
Bond 2025 projects are already making a lasting impact on students, programs, and facilities across the district. To stay up to date on Bond 2025 progress and other district news, subscribe to our monthly newsletter.
The design video below was produced by Pfluger Architects and features conceptual renderings of the renovated Hornet Stadium. These are concepts developed during the design process, not images of completed construction, and final details may change as the project is built.
