The Dollar Game - New Stadium Decision Damning The Dome 1976 Building Not Paid For Yet, But Some Eager To Rip It Down

“There it stands, the most magnificent and imposing sports and convention center in the nation. The multipurpose amphitheater dwarfs the Rome Colosseum and Babylon’s Temple of Artemis.

“In the Kingdome, the spectator is king. He sits in solid comfort, protected from howling winds, driving rain and blazing sun. …

“It is a monument to man’s daring imagination, ingenuity and intelligence. … And it is owned by we the people. Welcome to the Big Dome!”

The late sportswriter Royal Brougham in a commemorative magazine printed for the Kingdome’s opening day in March 1976

It was the toast of Seattle, heralded by boosters as the best sports and exhibition venue in the West.

Just 21 years later, some people are ready to tear the Kingdome down.

The concrete Kingdome is dissed as an outmoded hulk. Instead of multipurpose workhorse stadiums such as the Kingdome, pro teams today want upscale one-trick ponies built primarily for their own use.

The Kingdome has been host to more than 62 million people and 3,000 major events, from professional sports to religious revivals, motocross races and boat shows.

But its days may be numbered, depending on what voters decide in a statewide referendum June 17 on a football stadium proposal. The ballot measure, Referendum 48, calls for tearing down the Kingdome and spending $425 million to build a football and soccer stadium, exhibit hall and parking facility.

Billionaire Paul Allen says a new stadium is the price for exercising his option to buy the Seahawks on July 1 and keep the football team in Seattle.

But demolishing a building that isn’t even paid for is proving a tough sell. A statewide poll this week showed it’s one of the major reasons people so far are opposed to the stadium referendum.

To many, tearing down the Kingdome and starting over would be nuts.

State and King County taxpayers still would be on the hook for $127 million in unpaid debt on the Kingdome after it’s reduced to rubble. Then there’s $327 million in total public spending for the new football stadium, on top of $369 million in public money going into the baseball stadium already under construction next door.

“An incredibly stupid idea,” says Chris Van Dyk of Citizens for More Important Things, a Seattle group that opposes both the baseball and football stadium.

Can it still be profitable?

Bob Gogerty, top strategist for the football stadium campaign, agreed the Kingdome has served the community well. But its day is past, he argued.

Backers of the new stadium say the Kingdome is a black hole for money. On top of the outstanding debt, the building soon will need another $40 million safety overhaul, according to a county consultant’s report.

“I don’t think it’s a case that we can’t use it for football. We are using it now,” Gogerty said. “But it’s just not generating enough money. The concourses are very narrow, you can’t sell enough refreshments. There aren’t enough bathrooms. The luxury boxes were an afterthought.”

Deluxe executive suites, better concessions and other amenities would make a new stadium more lucrative.

The new stadium would also be bigger, with 72,000 seats, and have natural grass, which is essential to host international soccer events.

Gogerty worked to get the Kingdome built, launching the first major campaign of his public relations career with the Kingdome ballot initiative in 1968, which passed with 62 percent approval.

But he’s sure it’s time to dump the Kingdome. “We built it on the cheap, then we didn’t maintain the damn thing. It’s served us well but it’s time to take the next step.”

One of the campaign’s central arguments, that the Kingdome can’t make a profit, was clouded Thursday with the release of a King County staff study.

It showed the Kingdome could operate in the black under some scenarios, even without the Mariners and Seahawks as tenants.

But then, it’s the sixth county study in a year and a half on the future of the Kingdome. Each has reached a different conclusion with a different price on renovating the Kingdome.

County Executive Ron Sims is commissioning yet another study to examine the potential profitability of the Kingdome.

Expensive repairs

The seeds of the Kingdome’s financial troubles were sown slowly.

Meeting the demands of the Mariners and Seahawks for a bigger share of advertising and food service revenue and lower rent put the Kingdome on a shakier footing.

Only $27 million of the remaining Kingdome debt is for the original construction. The rest is for roof repair and $47 million in improvements, many of which were insisted on by the same teams fleeing the stadium.

A financing arrangement to make payments on the Kingdome debt generated more money than needed. Instead of dedicating all the extra money to future improvements and repairs at the Kingdome, the Legislature diverted part of it to arts programs in King County.

That turned out to be very costly for the Kingdome, which needed major repairs in 1994 when Gary Locke was King County executive.

Roof tiles cascaded from the Kingdome’s ceiling in July 1994, and it was closed for repairs in the middle of the baseball season.

Two people fell to their deaths as more than 200 workers from 35 states toiled to fix the roof and ceiling.

The Seahawks played several games in Husky Stadium while the dome was being worked on. But the Kingdome reopened in time for some Seahawks games in the fall and college basketball’s Final Four the following spring, when Locke trumpeted the value of the Kingdome in a statement:

“Seeing the teams and fans enjoying themselves illustrates the importance of the Kingdome to the economy and the quality of life of the entire Pacific Northwest … The Kingdome is an economic engine for the state.”

Less than two years later, Locke was leading the charge in the Legislature to tear the Kingdome down.

As a candidate for governor, Locke often said he preferred a renovated Kingdome to a new stadium. But he also said he would be guided by the recommendations of a task force he convened to study the issue. He was true to his word.

The task force issued a report last December backing demolition of the Kingdome and construction of a new football stadium and exhibition hall. That was just after Allen said he wouldn’t pay a penny for Kingdome renovations, but would pony up $100 million for a new stadium.

Some people who helped build the Kingdome can’t imagine tearing it down.

“I feel the taxpayers may stand up and say, ‘Look, this is what you said we needed and we paid for it and now you are telling us to tear it down and build something else you will say is obsolete in another 20 years,”’ said Ray Biggs, a Seattle resident who oversaw construction crews.

“I think they will be insulted.”

Others have mixed feelings. Bill Sears worked on the bond issue campaign to build the Kingdome. But he also worked with community leaders to bring the Seahawks to Seattle.

Sears doesn’t want to see the team leave, and he has no doubt that without a new stadium, the Seattle Seahawks are history.

“You are kind of torn between the affection and respect you have for the facility and the knowledge that this community needs professional football.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 3 Color Photos

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: DIARY OF A DOME A fixture on the Seattle skyline since the mid-1970s, the Kingdome has been remodeled, repaired and reviled. But it also has served as the site for numerous conventions and national championships. A new baseball stadium already is under construction next door. State voters will decide June 17 whether the Kingdome should be demolished and replaced by a new football/soccer stadium and exhibition hall. Here is the history of the concrete dome and efforts to replace it. March 1976: Kingdome opens. The $67 million, 66,000-seat arena is funded by King County property taxes and state sales tax credit on hotel and motel rooms rented in county. 1987 - 1994: Improvements and additions include luxury boxes, 1987, $8.2 million; scoreboard upgraded, 1989, $558,504; seating expanded, 1991, $1.2 million; new public address system installed, 1991, $1.7 million; parking lot expansion, 1992, $9.4 million; exhibition hall upgraded, 1994, $6.2 million. July 1994: Four ceiling tiles crash behind home plate before Mariners baseball game. King County determines all ceiling tiles need replacing. August 1994: Two workers killed and a third injured during round-the-clock roof repairs. October 1994: Mariners owners say they will put team up for sale if construction doesn’t begin on new stadium by 1996. Seahawks officials say $120 million renovation to Kingdome would keep them there until at least 2000. November 1994: Kingdome reopens after $70 million in repairs and related costs. Both teams vow to leave unless they get new stadium. 1995: New video scoreboard, $4 million. September 1995: Ballot initiative in King County to build baseball stadium fails. October 1995: Legislature approves new $320 million baseball stadium funded by the team and a combination of state and county tax hikes and credits. February 1996: Seahawks owner Ken Behring says Kingdome is unsafe and announces he is moving team to California. March 1996: NFL threatens to fine Behring if he doesn’t return team to Seattle. Then-King County Executive Gary Locke promises billionaire Paul Allen Kingdome lease concessions to encourage him to buy team. April 1996: Allen pays $20 million for option to buy team before July 1, 1997. Independent consultant recommends $197 million in repairs to Kingdome for Seahawks. Fall 1996: Locke opposes new football stadium throughout campaign for governor, instead backing renovated Kingdome. November 1996: Allen threatens to drop option to buy team unless Locke makes good on his promise of a sweeter deal on Kingdome lease by December. November 1996: Baseball stadium balloons in cost from $320 million originally approved by Legislature to $384 million. Experts predict additional $50 million in cost overruns. December 1996: Gov.-elect Locke agrees to revise Kingdome lease, shortening it from 10 to three years and granting Allen concessions that cost King County an estimated $2.7 million a year. December 1996: Task force releases consultant’s report that pegs Kingdome renovation cost at $345 million, triple the 1994 estimate. Same task force estimates cost of tearing down Kingdome and building new stadium at $386 million. Allen announces he would contribute $100 million to new stadium but pay nothing to renovate Kingdome. December 1996: King County Council approves Kingdome lease concessions. Allen begins lobbying Legislature to tear down Kingdome and build new stadium. Gov. Locke leads effort. December 1996: Mariners owners say they are tired of delays in construction of new baseball stadium and put team up for sale. King County provides additional concessions to Mariners, boosting cost of baseball stadium project, originally $320 million, to $414 million. February 1997: Another task force recommends paying for new football stadium with combination of funding sources that puts heaviest burden on sports fans and stadium users. Package fails in Legislature. April 1997: Draft report issued by King County staff shows Kingdome can operate in black even without sports teams. Some county council members argue Kingdome should be preserved. April 1997: Allen tells lawmakers he’ll back out of purchase of Seahawks if he doesn’t get action soon. April 1997: Legislature sends $425 million stadium and exhibition center proposal to voters for consideration in a statewide election June 17. Proposal would tear down Kingdome and build new football stadium plus exhibition hall. SOURCES: Spokesman-Review files, research by Lynda V. Mapes; Kingdome photograph by Christopher Anderson/The Spokesman-Review