One of Seattle Center’s most venerable venues is about to get a major revamp after 75+ years.
The city of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools (SPS) finished receiving proposals to rebuild and operate Memorial Stadium, which has been used as a high school sports, graduation, and concert venue over its eight decades. The city mandated that any ideas submitted would need to include 8,000 seats, remove the giant concrete walls, and create more public space near the International Fountain.
Two proposals were submitted — but we’ll have to wait a little longer to get all of the juicy details.
Here’s what we know
One of the proposals came from the One Roof Partnership, which is the corporate team behind the Seattle Kraken, Climate Pledge Arena, its philanthropic counterpart One Roof Foundation, and Oak View Group. Only one page of their proposal was released to the Seattle Times, but in it we can see new covered bleachers and a couple of Jumbotrons.
It’s unclear who the second bid is from at the moment, but the city and SPS said that it will release the names and proposal summaries from both bids later this week. The full, detailed proposals won’t be shared with the public until the city and SPS make their final pick.
More project details
- In 2022, architecture firm Populous released a conceptual plan for the renovations as part of a feasibility study. City leaders included this design — which included fancy amenities like box seating — as an example when they requested proposals.
- The city and SPS have set aside ~$100 million for the project, but will seek additional private funding.
- The stadium will be dedicated primarily to SPS activities, but could also potentially be a training facility for the 2026 World Cup and other professional sporting events.