Residents Can See A Model Stadium Public Input Sought For Football-Soccer Stadium To Be Built In Seattle

Thu., July 23, 1998

By Craig Welch craigw@olywa.net

It will seat 72,000, have 11 elevators and offer twice the number of toilets as the Kingdome.

And its grass will be as green and real as the $400 million it takes to build it.

The new Seattle Seahawks football and soccer stadium will be on display at Spokane City Hall today - in model form, anyway.

A group overseeing construction of the stadium and exhibition center is hosting a public meeting today in Spokane to discuss the project’s five-year timeline.

The seven-member public board also wants residents to offer their thoughts on the project, said Barbara Stenson, spokeswoman for Washington’s Public Stadium Authority.

“What we’re hoping is the public will help us with what they consider important - parking issues, seating issues, what they want in the way of concessions,” Stenson said. “This is the opportunity for them to tell us anything they want.”

After the 12:30 p.m. meeting, the public stadium board will host an open house with First & Goal Inc., the Paul Allen company contributing to the stadium project. Representatives of the Seahawks also will be on hand.

The project got under way after West Side taxpayers outvoted Eastern Washington residents and approved a public-private funding package in a June 1997 statewide vote.

Taxpayers will contribute $300 million through taxes on parking, admission and King County hotels and motels, along with a special lottery and sales-tax deferral on construction.

No property taxes go to support the project.

Allen’s group is required to put up another $100 million and cover all cost overruns.

It also must ensure that 20 percent of all seats are “affordable” - meaning, they’ll cost no more than the average of the lowest-priced seats in the National Football League.

The project will replace Seattle’s Kingdome, but will be much larger.

Workers are set to break ground on the first phase, the yearlong construction of a 325,000-square-foot exhibition center.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.