Tonight, Tuesday, February 2 Seattle Public Schools and Seattle Center are hosting a public meeting to discuss the Memorial Stadium deal and the proposed Memorandum of Agreement (.pdf) concerning the redevelopment of the site. Seattle Public Schools currently own the stadium, deeded to the district by the city for use as an athletic stadium in 1946, and has been in talks with Seattle Center for several years over an ownership negotiation.
Tonight’s meeting will go over the elements of the proposed agreement (MOA), which plans to turn the stadium site into a “green, integrated, multi-functional space that provides for year-round community and school activities” to be shared between the School District and Seattle Center.
Under the MOA, the City of Seattle would have six years to determine public and private funding for the Memorial Stadium site development. The Seattle School District would have priority use of the new stadium between just after Labor Day to just before Memorial Day, as well as for graduations held in June. For the remainder of the year the Seattle Center would have priority use over the stadium, which would be converted into a concert venue.
The MOA also tackles one controversial issue in the community – the Memorial Wall – calling for it to be preserved and moved to a “respectful location on the Seattle Center grounds, in consultation with veterans groups.”
In addition to owning the stadium, which many argue is underused, Seattle Public Schools also own a parking lost just east of Memorial Stadium on Mercer St. that would also be incorporated into the new green space, the details of which are still being negotiated between the two organizations. Under the proposal to be discussed tonight, Seattle Center would gain ownership of the existing stadium for the redevelopment and lease the parking lot from the School District for an estimated $2.5 million annually (plus escalation), over the next 60 years. Meanwhile, Seattle Center would handle the construction and operation of the new facility, which would include an underground garage, for the length of the lease, currently set at 99 years. When the new facility is completed, the existing garage would be torn down and Seattle Center would transfer ownership of half of the new garage to the School District.
“We are pleased to be working with Seattle Center and the City of Seattle to develop a plan for redevelopment of Memorial Stadium that provides a quality athletic stadium as well as a long term revenue stream for our District,” Superintendent Maria L. Goodloe-Johnson said in a press release. “This project is an example of how two public agencies can work in partnership to create a much greater benefit to our students and community than either agency could accomplish in isolation.”
For more information on the MOA to be discussed at tonight’s meeting, see the official press release, the School Board’s presentation from a work session held on December 3, 2009, Seattle Center Century 21 information, additional Memorial Stadium background information, and our previous story.
Tonight’s meeting will he held at 6:30 p.m. at Seattle Center (in the Fidalgo Room, at the northwest corner of Seattle Center, just south of Republican Street).