A graphically detailed conceptual image of how a stadium would fit in the footprint near Wall Street and Broadway. The site would feature Everett AquaSox baseball, and potentially a United Soccer League (USL) minor-pro soccer team.
Screenshot during July 24, 2024 Everett Multiuse Fiscal Advisory Committee meeting.
EVERETT — In a few years, the crack of a bat might be heard downtown.
Potentially the roar of soccer fans, too.
Last week, the City Council voted 7-0 to place a future multimillion-dollar stadium near Hewitt and Broadway. The council chose this site over rehabilitating Funko Field to retain the Everett AquaSox minor league baseball team.
More planning and more formal funding plans are due to come in January.
The council is still to vote on whether to build the stadium. Their vote last week merely selects where it is planned to be, but this gets it off the ground.
Design work will continue next year. Opening day could be in 2028.
AquaSox leaders are talking with the United Soccer League (USL) to bring teams to town. If clinched, the plan is it would bring professional-level men’s and women’s soccer teams to Everett.
The stadium could cost $99 to $117 million by the latest city estimates, plus $18 million to acquire the land from existing building owners. But it would bring back net profit to Everett in the long run, revenue forecasts indicate. It would be $2.3 million each year.
Before the council held its vote, Mayor Cassie Franklin called it a rare opportunity.
“It’s not often we have an opportunity that has a return on investment,” Franklin said. “It’s important for Everett’s future.”
The AquaSox already has a regional draw. According to the head of a fiscal advisory committee that analyzed the stadium’s costs, only about one in five filling the stands are Everettonians. More than one-third of AquaSox ticket buyers are coming from outside Snohomish County.
A look from above at the preliminary concept for the downtown stadium’s footprint behind buildings fronting Hewitt Avenue.
The future stadium could hold approximately 3,000 fixed seats for baseball.
The location will be across the road from the current Everett Events Center that houses Angel of the Winds Arena.
Within the next 20 years, the terminus of Sound Transit’s light rail line is expected to stop nearby.
None of the stadium’s expenses would be intended to come from the city’s operational budget.
The tentative funding plan calls for the city to take out bonds to cover most of this: $28 to $48 million. The stadium’s revenue would repay the bonds. The plan also uses $4.4 million in city funds dedicated to improvements for parks and capital facilities that the city earns through specialized taxes such as park impact fees placed on developers.
The AquaSox team has offered to contribute $10 million. It’s sacrificing practically one season’s worth of revenue for this endeavor, according to team officials. The USL soccer league could give $10 to $15 million, from preliminary conversations.
A fiscal advisory committee analyzed figures to recommend the downtown site.
Retired Housing Hope CEO Fred Safstrom, the committee’s chair, said the Silvertips bring people to downtown in winter, and the Sox would bring people in summer. They’re complementary, Safstrom said.
Leaders at the AquaSox cheered the news.
“On behalf of 7th Inning Stretch,” the company that owns the AquaSox, “we’d like to express our gratitude to Mayor Franklin, her administration, and the entire City Council, as well as all our amazing fans and business leaders who stepped up to the plate and gave their support for the downtown location. We are excited for the next 40 years of affordable, family-friendly entertainment in Everett,” said Chad Volpe, co-owner of the Everett Aquasox.
“We are pleased with tonight’s developments and the potential for bringing professional soccer to Everett,” said Justin Papadakis, Deputy CEO of the USL. “We agree that a downtown stadium offers significant benefits for the City, and it can play a key role in catalyzing the area. USL looks forward to continued discussions towards a partnership on a new, multi-purpose stadium that could serve both the community and the growing demand for sports and entertainment in the region.”
More details are on a city webpage: www.everettwa.gov/3163/City-of-Everett-Outdoor-Multipurpose-Fac (page name ends with “Fac”).
Basemap OpenStreetMap, under Open Database License (ODbL). Tribune marks
The locations of the future downtown site and Funko Field and other points of interest.OpenStreetMap
