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Wednesday, February 19, 2025

Seattle Public Schools And City of Seattle Seek Private Partnership For Memorial Stadium

Dr. Brent Jones, L and Bruce Harrell, R

By Aneesa Grant, The Metro Homemaker

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) and the City of Seattle are collaborating on a new vision for Memorial Stadium, according to officials, which will bring student athletics, arts, culture, and entertainment together, with greater opportunities to further educational and racial equity. The project, which has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a private partner to replace Memorial Stadium with an innovative new, multi-purpose sports, educational, and entertainment venue, will focus on expanding the ways the stadium serves students from all backgrounds, and will be more open to the Seattle Center campus and integrated with its arts and cultural life.

SPS and the City will review proposals from potential private partners to invest in, design, build, operate, maintain, and manage the new stadium, with SPS continuing to own the stadium and maintain priority use. Officials maintain that this approach will help SPS pay for the development of the new stadium and eliminates the Seattle School District’s costs to maintain and operate the facility. It also provides for a significantly enhanced facility beyond what it could develop on its own for a full range of athletics, graduation ceremonies, and other events for future generations. In addition, the new multi-use stadium will transform the heart of the Seattle Center campus to support a broader range of cultural events, and create new open spaces and Seattle Center operations facilities.

The project has received $66.5 million in public funding of approved by Seattle voters in last year’s SPS capital levy, as well as $21 million from the City, plus another $19 million which the Seattle City Council expressed its intent to identify no later than 2026. In addition, Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed $4 million in the state’s capital budget which is subject to State Legislature approval this session.

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The shared vision for the new stadium will provide for further advancement of educational and racial equity, including opportunities to deepen engagement with Seattle Center’s resident arts, cultural and sports organizations. In support of this vision, SPS and the City seek a private partner to bring creative approaches to help advance the longstanding partners’ commitment to education and their objectives for fostering workforce development with career technical training in fields such as cultural, culinary and performing arts; science; journalism; sports and sports management.

“Memorial Stadium – and the Memorial Wall, dedicated to honoring alumni who lost their lives in World War II, has historical, experiential, and emotional resonance for Seattle Public Schools,” said SPS Superintendent Brent Jones. “An enhanced stadium would allow the District to provide students with a modern facility for cultural performances, athletic events, commencement ceremonies, and social and educational opportunities. The School District is eager to demonstrate how this partnership can benefit students and families while improving integration with the Seattle Center campus.”

“Replacing Memorial Stadium with a new facility is a win for our students, their families, and our entire community,” said Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell. “Our shared vision for this facility means more than an improved athletic field – it represents developing a state-of-the-art facility capable of hosting a wide array of events and creating countless more Memorial Stadium memories for our communities. This project captures our One Seattle approach to collaboration, innovation, activation, and opportunity, and I look forward to the work of this partnership moving forward.”

Several design concepts that reimagine the 76-year-old Memorial Stadium – built on land the City gifted to the District – have been developed over the years as thought-starters, allowing for significantly greater integration with the Seattle Center campus and achieving the goals of Seattle Center’s Century 21 Master Plan. The RFP requires a design that removes the current stadium’s massive, view-obstructing walls; completes August Wilson Way with a long-awaited east-west pedestrian and bike connection across the Center’s campus; creates new public space linking the International Fountain with the stadium; and restores the Memorial Wall.

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Following its selection, the private investor, SPS and the City – with support from Seattle Center Foundation – will launch an inclusive community engagement process for input from students, families, and the greater community about the new stadium’s planning and design. The process, guided by a commitment to racial equity, will be informed and inspired by the voice of students of color to further educational justice.

“Community, connections, and opportunities for play and the display of student excellence – these are the things our students and families crave. Meeting these needs directly contributes to the success of Seattle’s students and the vibrance of our city,” said Seattle Public Schools Board Director Vivian Song-Maritz. “I am excited to continue our 76-year-old partnership to rebuild and revitalize Seattle Public Schools’ Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center.”

“The Seattle Public Schools funding, along with the City’s financial commitment mark an important next step toward realizing this visionary civic project,” said Seattle Center Foundation Executive Director Jane Zalutsky. “The Seattle Center Foundation looks forward to helping rally philanthropic and private support to achieve our collective vision of a world-class, multi-purpose event facility in the heart of Seattle Center for students and communities in our region.”

Beth Knox, President & CEO of Seattle Sports Commission, emphasized that the project will grow Seattle’s capacity as a host for premier sporting events.

“Seattle’s reputation as a host for premier sporting events extends globally. This March, we have the NCAA Women’s Basketball Regionals, this summer we’ll host the 2023 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, and in three years, the world stage will come to Seattle with the 2026 FIFA World Cup,” she said. “We can grow our capacity even more by adding Memorial Stadium to the list of the world-class venues that attract major events and opportunities to our region.”

The project has also received support from Michelle Merriweather, President & CEO of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, who highlighted the need for equitable access to play and quality facilities for Black youth.

“Black youth are disproportionately impacted when it comes to access to play and quality of facilities they’re able to use. Working with stakeholders, we are confident in the commitments of Seattle Public Schools and the City to ensure equitable access to a new, world-class Memorial Stadium for the youth of our region,” Merriweather said. “We are pleased to see this project moving forward with the partnership between Seattle Public Schools and the City of Seattle.”

In 1946, the City of Seattle deeded the land to SPS to build, operate, and maintain a new athletic field. A voter-approved school levy and bonds (issued in 1942 and 1944) provided funding for improving school buildings and the construction of today’s Memorial Stadium, completed in 1947. The stadium was selected as the site for a World War II memorial by a group of community leaders appointed by Seattle Mayor William Devin to pay tribute to the nearly 800 SPS alums who lost their lives in the war. Over its 76-year history, Memorial Stadium has hosted thousands of concerts and community events, as well as numerous school events annually, attracting thousands of students and community members each year for high school athletic events, graduation ceremonies, and community events.

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