Berry Center of Northwest Houston

The Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center was constructed by the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. It was completed in March 2006 and consists of five separate facilities: an arena, stadium, theater, conference center and food production center. It is located in Cypress in unincorporated Harris County, Texas, about 21.5 miles northwest of downtown Houston.

The Berry Center

The "Berry Center", as it has been nicknamed, provides Cy-Fair ISD with district-wide staff development for teachers; extra- and co-curricular activities, performances and competitions; catering and banquets for honors, awards and celebrations; a parking area with 4,000 spaces; and a center for graduation exercises.

Amenities include an 11,000-seat athletic stadium; a 16,000 square-foot conference center used for staff development, which can be partitioned into 17 rooms; a 456-seat auditorium; a multi-purpose area designed for a maximum capacity of 9,500 people with 8,300 fixed seats (which is home to the Texas Copperheads arena football team, now part of af2); a floor banquet seating and catering facility to accommodate the preparation and serving of 1,000 meals; a complete loading dock, backstage marshalry, star and support dressing areas; and administrative office space.

Since its completion, the Rick Berry Center's facilities have been booked by church groups, local high schools and community colleges, and other school districts for use in graduation ceremonies and group meetings. These bookings increase Cy-Fair's visibility as a school district and also bring in extra revenue that is used to fund educational programs across the district.

PBK Architects, Inc. along with their design consultant, HOK Sport Venue were the architects for the complex.

The Center's namesake is a former Cy-Fair superintendent, who was serving in that role at the time the Center was named for him.

TobyMac also recorded the Grammy award winning live album Alive and Transported in the stadium.

• Cypress Springs H.S. playoff game against Katy Taylor H.S.
  Cypress Springs H.S. playoff game against Katy Taylor H.S.
• Traffic leaving the Berry Center after the Cypress Springs High School Graduation Ceremony for the class of 2007.
  Traffic leaving the Berry Center after the Cypress Springs High School Graduation Ceremony for the class of 2007.

Cost

The Berry Center was built at a cost of $72.9 million. [1] With the required fees and related expenses, the final cost of building the Berry Center was $80 million. The monthly cost of electricity alone for the building is $35,000 [http://74.125.47.132/search?q=cache:nBF421D-iYEJ:www.cfisd.net/key/2006/key_06sept15.pdf+berry+center+high+cost&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

Criticism

The Berry Center frequently comes under fire as a result of its high cost. Currently CFISD has issues with debt, and many criticize the construction of the Berry Center during such debt. The schools in the district have been experiencing a paper shortage as a result of the debt the district has accumulated.

External links

• Information on Cy-Fair site
• Berry Center Website