EVERETT — The City Council voted unanimously last week to give themselves a little more time to decide whether to spend $1.15 million for two consulting firms to work toward what would be the long-term public stadium of the AquaSox minor league team.
One consultant would manage the project and the other would ensure any project meets all the required planning checkmarks.
The topic will come back to the council by Nov. 29.
Council members had two main reasons why they chose to pause: They wanted to gather all of the latest studies and want to sort out the sequence of what happens next if they hire the contractors.
The $1.15 million would be paid from a special account fund the city uses for property acquisitions. This property acquisition fund has about $1.5 million in it today, according to a recent city budget book.
In the spring, the state Legislature gave a $7.4 million earmark toward the new stadium but that money was directed for the Everett School District, which owns Funko Field where the Sox play. The city believes it can get the Legislature to modify the earmark to let it tap into it for costs such as these contracts, city government affairs director Jennifer Gregerson said.
A clock is ticking louder and louder for the AquaSox to meet revamped stadium requirements imposed by Major League Baseball.
“Major League Baseball changed the game,” city facilities manager Scott Pattison said.
The MLB put it on the ball clubs to meet stadium facility requirements for safety and comfort, such as separate women’s locker rooms, and put a deadline on it to meet the checklist. These are non-negotiable: Without completing these, the team’s standing becomes jeopardized.
The Sox’s current deadline to show Major League Baseball it has a compliant stadium is by April 2025, AquaSox co-owner Chad Volpe said. Teams are pushing back on the league for longer deadlines, he said.
The ball club will be paying a six-figure fine next year for not yet meeting the minimum standards, Volpe said.
Decisions the council will need to take include whether to take private land as part of the site selection, city economic development manager Dan Eernissee said.
Volpe said the team wants to stay here as an anchor in the community.
“We want to make sure (the team) stays here in this community,” Volpe said.
Upwards of 120 other communities with minor-league teams face the same situation to upgrade their stadium. Some of those have seen their hometown team ‘shopping themselves around’ to other cities willing to build them a new stadium – a game of manipulation seen in major pro sports. Volpe emphasized the AquaSox has “zero interest” in leaving Everett.
Five site options have been identified. They are:
• Heavily remodeling the Everett School District’s Funko Field
• A teardown and full rebuild of Funko Field.
• To take and redevelop part of downtown east of Broadway between Hewitt and Pacific streets close to Angel of the Winds Arena (according to a graphic from the consultant). The block has a low-rise industrial and commercial today,
• Or do nothing and undoubtedly cost the team its MLB affiliation.
Other site options could arise in the process, the consultant from the firm Shiels Obletz Johnsen said.
The project consultant lists having a recommended site by June 1, 2024.
Repurposing Kasch Park and Walter E. Hall Golf Course had been discussed last year, but that’s not going to be studied by the contractors.
A stadium could cost between $20 to $80 million depending on what scenario it pursued, from loose figures. Eighty million was the top-end in 2022 estimates.
The city, county, state and team all are anticipated to pitch in funds, city leaders such as Gregerson said.
The plan is to have up to 3,200 seats, which was determined to be “perfect for a High-A team” like the Sox, Pattison said. It would convert to an “amphitheater” to seat up to 5,000 people for other events at the facility.
Funko Field’s current capacity for baseball is 3,682 seats.
The Everett AquaSox will be starting its 40th season next spring.
Fans emphasize how the team gives affordable entertainment for children. They don’t want to lose the Sox.
Budget hawks urged council members to retain the team but approach the cost of hiring the consultants cautiously.
The 2021 revamp repositioned the AquaSox’s entire league one step up the minor league ladder as the new High-A West league of six teams with a longer season. It’s an affiliate of the Seattle Mariners.
