Someone has flipped on the lights at Seattle Center. The Vera Project has moved in, Seattle International Film Festival has installed a year-round movie theater, and a mayor-appointed group—called the Century 21 Committee—has released plans for overhauling the Center.
But Bumbershoot is worried that parts of the much-needed makeover—including removing and scaling down music venues such as Memorial Stadium—threaten its existence.
The Century 21 Committee convened in November 2006 to study the Center, take public comment, and come up with four plans for renovation. (One of which is “do nothing.”) Next month, the committee will deliver its four plans to URS Corporation, an engineering firm that will conduct an environmental review and synthesize the plans into a single recommendation. In May 2008, that recommendation will go before the mayor and city council, which will put it up for a November levy vote.
The three “do-something” plans involve getting rid of Fun Forest, which owes the Center almost $800,000 in back rent. All three plans also call for more open green space and renovating the Center House. Other proposals include tearing down some of the Northwest Rooms, building in a street trolley from South Lake Union, either expanding or eliminating Mural Amphitheater, and, most controversially, tearing down Memorial Stadium and replacing it with a lawn, a smaller amphitheater, and underground parking. The stadium’s capacity is 22,000; the capacity of the proposed amphitheater is around 7,000.
The impulse is of a piece with the Century 21 Committee’s plans to raze buildings, increase open space, and make the Center feel more porous and less walled off from the city. Memorial Stadium, built in 1948, is part of the monumental concrete aesthetic the Center is trying to leave behind. One Reel, which produces Bumbershoot, says losing 15,000 concertgoers would be catastrophic.
“For the last several years, the evening main-stage shows have all been at full capacity,” said Heather Smith, One Reel’s Bumbershoot producer. “During the day, it’s at 70 to 80 percent capacity.” According to Smith, 50,000 people come to Bumbershoot every day—43,000 of whom pass through Memorial Stadium to see big acts like Wu-Tang Clan or the Shins.
This is not the first time building issues have threatened Bumbershoot’s ticket sales. Six years ago, Bumbershoot could host 200,000 people over Labor Day weekend. Since Bumbershoot lost Mercer Arena (because the Center can’t afford seismic repairs) and KeyArena (because of its contract with Seattle Storm), the festival can only accommodate 150,000.
Nor is this the first time Bumbershoot has felt rebuffed by Seattle Center. One Reel hoped the Center would host its Summer Nights series, which has fallen apart after bouncing from Pier 62/63 to South Lake Union to Gasworks Park. A May 3 letter from One Reel to Center director Robert Nellams states: “It was disappointing to hear with finality that the dream of Summer Nights at the Seattle Center could not be realized due to size limitations and technical issues.”
Another factor in One Reel’s fight to save the stadium is clear. Last February, One Reel partnered with AEG Live. AEG is the world’s second-largest entertainment promoter after its competitor Live Nation. Live Nation not only owns major music festivals like Reading and Leeds in England, but also owns the Sasquatch festival, the Gorge Amphitheater (capacity 17,000–20,000) and White River Amphitheater (20,000). Maintaining a 20,000-capacity concert venue in central Seattle would be in the long-term interests of One Reel and AEG.
Seattle Center deputy director David Heurtel says, “This is a process and it’s important to let the process run its course. One Reel uses [Memorial Stadium] three days out of 365—One Reel must be heard, and so must other valid options.”
So far, the only options under discussion are to keep the stadium or to replace it with a small amphitheater. Other ideas, like building a large permanent venue or a pop-up summer stage, are not in any of the committee’s proposals. It would improve the discussion if the 17-member committee—which includes builders, theater administrators, and business owners—had a representative from the music community, someone who understands concerts and festivals. It doesn’t. 
