Record Group 171
DEPARTMENT OF STADIUM ADMINISTRATION

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

The Kingdome was a multi-purpose, covered stadium owned by King County and operated by the Department of Stadium Administration. Serious interest in constructing a domed sports stadium in order to attract new professional sports franchises to Seattle dated as early as the late 1950s. Two early bond initiatives, presented to the voters in 1960 and 1966, however, failed to generate enough support to pass. In 1968, as a part of the Forward Thrust initiative, voters approved a $40,000,000 bond for the stadium. Controversy dogged both the site selection process and the construction of the facility. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on November 2, 1972 at the 35.9 acre site at the southern end of downtown Seattle that finally had been chosen. Grand opening ceremonies were held in the completed 9.1 acre concrete-domed stadium on March 27, 1976. Originally estimated at a cost of $30,000,000, the final cost of the project totaled nearly $67,000,000.

During the height of its operations, the Kingdome served as home to four major sports teams and as host to numerous trade and consumer shows, concerts, and other special events. Depending upon the configuration required for a specific event, the stadium could seat up to 70,000 people. The stadium also had several meeting rooms with banquet facilities, a parking lot that could be leased for special events, and also housed a sports museum. Approximately 3,000 major events were held at the Kingdome during its twenty-four year history. In addition to the events staged at the Kingdome, guided public and group tours were given regularly between April and September of each year. The operations of the Kingdome were covered through proceeds from rentals, parking, as well as a percentage of the revenue generated from advertising and concessions. The Department of Stadium Administration was supervised by a director who was appointed by the King County Executive.

Although the Department ran a full calendar of events in the Kingdome during its initial years of operation, the number of events held annually began to decline significantly by the mid-1980s following the demise of one major tenant (the Seattle Sounders as a part of the North American Soccer League) and the move of another (the Seattle SuperSonics) to a different venue. Both the remaining regular sports tenants (the Seattle Mariners and the Seattle Seahawks) grew increasingly dissatisfied with the Kingdome and demanded changes to the facility, including the construction of luxury boxes. In 1990, the Department of Stadium Administration issued a master plan for the comprehensive redevelopment of the facility and its site. Not satisfied with renovations to the Kingdome, by 1993, the owners of the Seattle Mariners were insisting that a new stadium specifically constructed for baseball was the only way to keep the franchise in Seattle. The 1994 season seemed to sound the death knell for the Kingdome as the stadium was dark for many days when problems with falling ceiling tiles forced its closure for nearly five months while repairs were made and a strike by Major League Baseball resulted in a further loss of games in Seattle. A tax package placed on the ballot in 1995 that would have funded a new stadium for the Mariners and improvements to the Kingdome for the Seahawks was rejected by the voters, but the state legislature authorized King County to levy taxes to pay for bonds to build a new baseball stadium. Prospective new ownership of the Seahawks also demanded that a new facility be constructed for that team and in 1997 funding for a new football stadium to replace the Kingdome was narrowly approved by voters in a special election. Plans were developed to build a new baseball stadium and exhibition center in an area south of the Kingdome site, while the Kingdome itself would be demolished and the new football stadium would be erected on its former site. The Department of Stadium Administration ceased operating in early 2000 and the Kingdome was destroyed by implosion on March 26, 2000.

Record Subgroup 171.01
DEPARTMENT OF STADIUM ADMINISTRATION: EVENT SERVICES

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

The office of Event Services was responsible for overseeing the planning and operation of all events held in the Kingdome stadium. The primary duties of Event Services included making arrangements for event staffing, set-up for broadcasts, equipment needed for tenant move-in and move-out, and room requirements and seating configurations. A duty officer, who was assigned to each event, was responsible for providing support needed by the tenant for the duration of the event. Event Services also was responsible for hiring and training the part-time employees needed for specific events and coordinating the emergency preparedness plan for the Kingdome. The office made a distinction between major events and special events in its record keeping. Special events, which were never included in the annual attendance statistics for the stadium, were defined as non-ticketed events, including meetings, private parties, and press conferences.

SERIES DESCRIPTION

171.01-469 Event files, 1976-2000
Event files were created after each event by the office of Event Services to summarize the event and review operations and procedures with the tenant and Kingdome staff. These event files typically include turnstile reports, duty officer logs, police control logs, first aid logs, found property lists, incident cards, fact sheets, press releases, employee assignments, some correspondence and financial records relating to an individual event. Over the course of its more than twenty four years of operation, the Kingdome hosted many significant shows and spectacles, including numerous and varied sporting events, expositions, trade shows, concerts, and meetings. Major tenants of the Kingdome throughout its existence included the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise, Seattle Mariners, the National Football League (NFL) franchise, Seattle Seahawks, and, at various times, the National Basketball Association (NBA) franchise, Seattle SuperSonics and the North American Soccer League (NASL) franchise, Seattle Sounders. Other notable events staged regularly at the Kingdome included the Seattle Home Show, the Seattle Boat Show, and the Seattle International Auto Show.Volume: 57 cu ft

Record Subgroup 171.10
DEPARTMENT OF STADIUM ADMINISTRATION: PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE

ADMINISTRATIVE HISTORY

The Public Information Office (PIO) conducted a comprehensive program of promotional activities designed to increase public awareness of the Kingdome and to provide information to the news media, general public, stadium tenants and employees, visitors, governmental agencies, and the hospitality industry. In order to support these functions, the office was responsible for issuing a variety of publications, including newsletters, press kits, news releases, and annual reports. Other duties of the office included managing public and group tours of the Kingdome and operating the sports museum that was open to ticket holders during sporting events and tours.

171.10-437 Clippings, 1969 - 1999 (559K, PDF)
This series is comprised of photocopied and original clippings of newspaper and magazine articles documenting the history of the Kingdome and its tenants, from its pre-construction to its closure. Some press releases and other materials also may be present. The clippings have been arranged by subject and year; more detailed subject categories are available for the later years. Also included are separate compilations of clippings relating to two of the major tenants of the Kingdome, the Seattle Mariners baseball team and the Seattle Seahawks football franchise. The clippings were maintained originally in notebooks, scrapbooks, and files.

Volume: 7.25 cu ft

171.10-473 Promotional materials, 1972-2000
Annual reports, brochures, newsletters, press kits, and other publications and products created by the Public Information Office (PIO) to promote Kingdome events, activities, facilities, and services. Also included are photographs, graphics, and other resources used by the PIO to develop its own promotional materials for the Department of Stadium Administration, as well as materials produced by outside organizations relating to the Kingdome, area tourism, and event booking and promotion which were collected by the PIO.

Volume: 0.91 cu ft

171.10-456 Scrapbooks, 1972-1976
This series consists of four oversize scrapbooks (1972-1974, 1975, 1976, 1976/opening night) containing newspaper clippings and other materials that document the negotiations to obtain sports franchises for, the construction of, and opening night ceremonies at the Kingdome stadium.This series consists of four oversize scrapbooks (1972-1974, 1975, 1976, 1976/opening night) containing newspaper clippings and other materials that document the negotiations to obtain sports franchises for, the construction of, and opening night ceremonies at the Kingdome stadium.

Volume: 4 volumes