Ground broken on $140M Seattle Public Schools stadium

Groundbreaking started Thursday on the replacement for Seattle’s 78-year-old Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center.

The start of construction on the project comes over two years after the city and Seattle Public Schools jointly issued a Request for Proposal in March 2023 to find a private partner to fund, redevelop, operate and maintain the project with the two entities.

Completion of the stadium is set for September 2027, just in time for the fall sports season.

The Memorial Stadium project is led by a public-private partnership between Seattle, Seattle Public Schools, and the One Roof Partnership, which is a consortium of Seattle Kraken, Climate Pledge Arena and One Roof Foundation.

Funding for the replacement of the Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center comes from the city and Seattle Public Schools, with a total of $140 million.

Out of the total, Seattle set aside $40 million for the stadium project as part of its Capital Improvement Plan. Seattle Public Schools allocated $66.5 million in voter-approved funds from its 2022 Buildings, Technology and Academics/Athletics Capital Levy and capital funds. 

While public dollars are doing most of the heavy lifting on the project, the developers were able to raise $30 million in private funding for the stadium.

The Center Square previously reported on the One Roof Partnership ensuring that the total project is “derisked” for the public sector by having the developer take on 100% of the construction risk.

The partnership will operate the facility as a not-for-profit so that generated revenue will go into a maintenance fund and projects that benefit community members, such as eliminating athletic fees for students from low-income families.

Memorial Stadium opened in 1947 and has hosted notable events since then, including the opening ceremony of the 1962 World’s Fair.

Following the groundbreaking ceremony, the stadium gates opened to the public for one last time.