Last minute work is underway on Spokane’s new One Spokane Stadium. The downtown entertainment venue will have its ribbon cutting ceremony today and host its first games later this week
Crews were making final adjustments Monday, from hanging the nets that keep footballs and soccer balls from flying onto the adjacent streets to finishing work in the spectator areas. The last details are expected to take a few more weeks.
The venue will seat about 5,000, divided between light and dark gray chairs and aluminum benches. Total capacity, including field seating for concerts and other events, could reach 12,000.
Students will begin playing games at One Spokane on Thursday. A doubleheader begins with a girls’ soccer game between Shadle Park and Pullman at 4, followed by a football game between North Central and Clarkston at 7. Shadle Park and Rogers play a football game Friday night at 7, then the stadium will be open Saturday for a public event. The adjacent Joe Albi Way and Plaza will dedicated at 10:30 am with an open house at the stadium between 11 am and 1:30 pm.
The $38 million stadium is owned by Spokane Public Schools, funded by a taxpayer-approved bond issue. It will be operated by the Public Facilities District, an arrangement school Superintendent Adam Swinyard says will benefit both entities.
“They have an asset to use for other reasons and we get a partner to run a facility and the PFD, that’s what they do, they run facilities, they maintain them, they operate them. Their staff are experts in holding events and so we’re fortunate to be able to forge such a mutually beneficial agreement," he said.
The other major tenant is the Spokane Velocity, the men's team that will play in the United Soccer League.
Greg Forsyth, the capital projects director for the school district, says having so many partners with their own specific needs made for a challenge.
“I will say that the teamwork and the camaraderie of the groups that were in here was refreshing. It was fun. We problem solved. Everybody had to give and take a little bit. But in the end, it was really about the entertainment and the kids," he said.
The stadium is adjacent to The Podium and across the street from the Spokane Arena. A parking lot is under construction across Boone Avenue.
Parking could be tight when there are multiple events going on. But Matt Meyer, the facilities district’s director for entertainment, says there are several areas for fans within a several block radius.
“The southwest corner of the Arena, down by Anthony’s, there’s about three to four parking lots down there. They never fill up. The Wonder Building hardly ever fills up for concerts. And that’s right across the street from the Arena, right next to David’s Pizza," he said.
"The parking’s there. It’s just that people don’t think about those locations right off then get-go when they’re coming. Instead they stay up on the north side and start sprawling out.”
Meyer says the facilities district is also in discussions to potentially access parking at Rock Pointe to the northeast of the stadium.
