Seattle's Folly

Seattle's Folly
by Heather Roscoe

Seattle was given a new baseball stadium, an explicit example of wasteful purchases, called Safeco Field. In a city where it has been known to rain up to 160 inches a year, there is now a sparkly new open air stadium with a retractable roof.

Last week, whilst the Seattle Mariners and the Texas Rangers were doing battle on the field, the notorious Seattle climate proved its mutability and rained happily on the players. When officials tried to close the roof it responded briefly, then ominously stopped.

Washingtonians, who are accustomed to having mold growing on their window caulking and wet pine needles sticking to their clothes and car upholstery, were unfazed by the moisture. They simply sat in the rain until they were notified that the roof was broken, then moved to the covered area and waited it out.

The Mariners, undisturbed by the delay, sat in their dugout and watched the specially trained tarp crew slip and scurry to spread plastic protection on the grass. The Texas Rangers didn't see the humor in the situation and were a little more annoyed. The unusual sight of rain seemed to unnerve them and they later lost the game.

Just days after the roof failed to close, the Mariners were treated to another surprise when the 535 metal halide lights winked out. The Toronto Blue Jays managed to benefit from this little delay, they beat the Mariners into humiliation.

Some people think the irony of the situation is humorous, others wish that the old stadium, the Kingdome, was still in existence. There was something cozy about that stuffy, shaky old dome. At least, when you live in a state where you are accosted by rain every time you turn your back, a warm, dry, covered area is a appreciated.

The Kingdome, a horror of steel and concrete was one of the most daring and tragic structures the city could claim, second to the Space Needle. Its construction was part of a bold city renovation plan called Forward Thrust, started in the early 1960's.

The cheapest domed stadium of its size, the Kingdome was embarrassing proof that you get what you pay for...and the fact that we are still not finished paying for it speaks volumes about what we did get. Throughout the last years of its life the dome was under constant reconstruction for roof problems and stress.

In March the 250 foot high structure was imploded. Seattleites cheered as 443 tons of structured steel and 52,800 cubic yards of concrete came crashing down, sending up a farewell cloud of choking dust.

What is so terrible about demolishing an old stadium that was an eyesore anyway? Because in its place the city is building two new playing fields. Where one building sufficed for two national sports teams and a number of different exhibitions, two are now expected to do the job.

Now we have Safeco Field, the sparkling, enormous structure which from the I-5, northbound, looks like a futuristic bread box. The local government is hoping that Safeco Field will bring in tourists, the citizens are hoping that it will be paid off before Armageddon (The stadium budget started out at $330 million and escalated to $517 million).

The owners and players of the Seattle Mariners resorted to behaving like indulged children in order to get their new field. Nine days after the first sales-tax proposal (which introduced the stadium idea to the public) was voted down, the baseball team's owners announced that they would sell the team unless they were given a new stadium. Legislators reacted and passed the initiatives--Seattle was going to have a new baseball stadium whether it needed it or not.

The public was half-hearted about the issue.

"For some, the stadium is a symbol of a government that is generous with the powerful and dismissive of the average citizens." (The Puget Sound Business Journal, May 1999)

Again, however, the team's owners demonstrated their strong-arm, manipulative approach to getting their own way. When progress slowed, the team's owners threatened again to sell the team unless the construction was accelerated. The Mariners needed to be in the field, playing games by 1999, they argued. Eventually, an agreement was drawn. The Mariners would have their stadium, but they would have to pay $100 million out of pocket if they wanted it finished on time.

What is more, the football team, the Seahawks, have demanded a stadium of their own, to be built on the site of the old Kingdome. So, the new stadium, Safeco Field, was built next to the old one. Then the old one was demolished to make way for another new playing field, scheduled to open in 2002.

We are fortunate to live in a society where we can have such frivolous luxuries as paper towels, three meals a day and two sports stadiums side by side. However Safeco Field now serves as a tribute to our throw-away society. The unwitting politicians who let the bills pass and bowed down to bratty sports managers will hopefully regret draining the public coffers. If anything, other state governments can learn from our mistakes and stay content, modest and frugal.