Preserve or replace? Fate of Seattle’s Memorial Stadium still undecided

SEATTLE — We’ve been monitoring the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board’s meeting while they consider giving landmark status to Memorial Stadium.

Owned by Seattle Public Schools, the stadium on the corner of Seattle Center grounds was slated to be gutted and rebuilt.

As it’s being considered for landmark status, neither SPS nor the contractor that would demolish and rebuild the 1947 stadium are in favor of giving it landmark status. The designation would put a wrinkle in the $120 million plans to rebuild it into a state-of-the-art sports and youth events stadium.

SPS created a public-private partnership, and the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a resolution to rebuild.

A new stadium was expected to be completed sometime in 2026, but now there are advocates pushing to preserve not just its cultural heritage but to make the crumbling stadium they have now a historic landmark.

No matter what happens, there’s a wall at the stadium that will be preserved — a dedication in honor of Seattle Public Schools students who died in war.

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