Location in Washington | |
Address | Joe Albi Way |
---|---|
Location | Spokane, Washington, U.S. |
Coordinates | 47°40′03″N117°25′09″W / 47.66750°N 117.41917°W |
Elevation | 1,900 feet (580 m) AMSL |
Public transit | Spokane Transit Authority |
Parking | 2,000 (shared) [1] |
Owner | Spokane Public Schools |
Operator | Spokane Public Facilities District |
Capacity | 5,000 [2] |
Surface | Artificial turf [3] |
Construction | |
Broke ground | November 30, 2021 |
Opened | September 26, 2023 |
Construction cost | $37.9 million [4] |
Architect | ALSC Architects |
Builder | Garco Construction |
Tenants | |
| |
Website | |
https://www.onespokanestadium.com |
One Spokane Stadium is a multi-use stadium in downtown Spokane, Washington, United States. It is home to the professional soccer teams Spokane Velocity of USL League One and Spokane Zephyr FC of the USL Super League and USL W League, as well as Spokane Public Schools high school teams in several sports. Opened in September 2023, it succeeds Joe Albi Stadium, the city's football and soccer venue from 1950 through 2021.
The stadium is located in the North Bank district of downtown alongside two other sports facilities: Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena to the southwest and The Podium to the south.
Opened in 1950, Joe Albi Stadium in Northwest Spokane had served as the city's main outdoor stadium for soccer, football, and other large events. [5] Compared to the new Downtown Spokane Stadium, Joe Albi was a much larger stadium with a capacity of 25,000-plus spectators. [6]
By the first decade of the 2000s, the stadium's age began to show and cause issues for tenants. In 2006, the artificial turf was deemed unsafe, which ultimately led to the Spokane Shadow ending their time as tenants. The Spokane and Mead school districts agreed to pay $1 million to replace the turf. [7]
Joe Albi continued to deteriorate over the following years, and by 2017 Spokane Public Schools began exploring options to replace the then 67-year-old stadium. Options floated included demolishing and rebuilding a smaller stadium at the Joe Albi site or building a new stadium downtown. [8] In 2018, the school district's proposals were put to an advisory vote with two separate but related questions posed to voters within District 81 boundaries. One was on a $495 million bond for the school district, $31 million of which would be allocated for the stadium project. The other was on the preferred location of the stadium: the Joe Albi site or downtown. Voters passed the bond proposal, but preferred the Albi site by a 2-to-1 margin. [9]
In early 2021, a new proposal to revive the downtown stadium plan was brought forward by the Downtown Spokane Partnership, an organization composed of downtown Spokane business interests. Mark Richard, president of the Downtown Spokane Partnership, along with a representative from the United Soccer League (USL), made a pitch to Spokane Public Schools asking the district to reconsider their plans to build a new stadium at the Joe Albi Site. [10] The new proposal included a promise from USL to bring a professional team to Spokane and to pledge $2 million to the construction. It was also claimed that the central location would be better for parents and students attending high school games. The location adjacent to the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena and the then under-construction indoor track and field venue The Podium would help create a proper sports and event district in the city center. [10]
Spokane Public Schools voted on the new proposal in May 2021 and approved it by a 4–1 margin. This vote took place after the Spokane Public Facilities District, the agency which manages the adjacent Spokane Arena and the Podium as well as the Spokane Convention Center and First Interstate Center for the Arts across the Spokane River, agreed to meet a set of parameters put forward by the school district. These parameters included parking issues and congestion concerns, as well as ensuring that Spokane Public Schools would retain complete ownership rights over the new stadium. [11]
Groundbreaking on the stadium took place on November 30, 2021. [12] On May 11, 2023, a topping ceremony took place as the final beam was set in place for the stadium structure. At the time of the topping ceremony, stadium officials expected the stadium would be open for events by the final week of September 2023. [13]
On July 12, 2023, the Spokane Public Schools board of directors voted to approve the name of the stadium as ONE Spokane Stadium. The capitalization of the word "one" in the name is meant to reflect unity among the schools and entities which will use the stadium. [14] A previous named proposed as part of a Kalispel Tribe of Indians sponsorship, "North Bank Stadium", was rejected by the board after the Spokane Tribe raised objections over a lack of consultation for the facility, which is built on their ancestral lands. [15]
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on September 26, 2023. [16]
The stadium is located north of The Podium, separated by Joe Albi Way, previously a section of W Dean Ave. Joe Albi Plaza was created on the southwest corner of the property near the Spokane Civic Theater, and the original statue of Joe Albi was moved to the plaza from the demolished Joe Albi Stadium. [17] There are 17 entry gates along the west, south, and east sides of the facility, with 5,000 permanent seats: 2,491 plastic and 2,509 metal bench. [18] For other events using the field, such as concerts, the facility can accommodate up to 15,000.
The playing field is 98,930 square feet (9,190 m2) of artificial turf in a traditional north-south alignment, with the grandstand and press box along the west sideline. While the stadium hosts Spokane Public Schools football and soccer games with both sport lines painted on the field, the field can be repainted for soccer only to abide by USL and FIFA field of play regulations. [19] In the northeast corner is a 20.5 foot by 36 foot Daktronics digital display with 660,960 pixels. [18] An additional 2.5 foot by 246 foot field-level ribbon display is expected to be installed in March 2024. [20]
The approximate elevation of the playing field is 1,900 feet (580 m) above sea level.[ citation needed ]
The facility is shared by Spokane Public Schools high schools and the United Soccer League.
Spokane Public Schools uses the venue for football and soccer games for its five traditional high schools:
The United Soccer League (USL) and franchise owner, Aequus Sports, LLC (led by Ryan and Katie Harnetiaux), announced three teams: [21] [22] [23]
Spokane Shadow is an American soccer team, founded in 1996. The team competed in the National Premier Soccer League as well as the Evergreen Premier League, one of United States Adult Soccer Association's elite amateur leagues. From 1996 to 2005, the team played in the United Soccer Leagues' Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The men's team folded when the franchise was terminated in 2006 by the PDL after the 10-year-old artificial turf at their home ground, Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane, Washington was declared unsafe for play.
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The Spokane Shock were a professional indoor American football team based in Spokane, Washington, that played their home games at the Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena. The team was initially a member of arenafootball2 (af2), the Shock won division titles in all four seasons and ArenaCups in 2006 and 2009 before they joined the Arena Football League (AFL) in its 2010 relaunch. The team advanced to the playoffs three times after joining the AFL, winning ArenaBowl XXIII in their first season, making them the only arena football franchise to win both the ArenaCup and the ArenaBowl.
Joe Albi Stadium was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium in Spokane, Washington, United States. It was located in the northwest part of the city, just east of the Spokane River. The stadium was primarily used for high school football, as a secondary home field for the Washington State Cougars, and for minor league soccer.
The Spokane Public Facilities District (SPFD) is the government body in Spokane, Washington that manages the Spokane Arena, Spokane Convention Center, the First Interstate Center for the Arts, The Podium, and One Spokane Stadium. It was created in 1989 by the Washington State Legislature to create a plan to replace the old Spokane Coliseum. The Coliseum was eventually replaced by the Spokane Arena.
Rogers Field was an outdoor athletic stadium in the northwest United States, on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It was the home venue of the WSU Cougars football and track teams until severely damaged by a fire in April 1970. Partially demolished in early 1971, Rogers Field was replaced by the concrete Martin Stadium, which was built on the same site and opened in 1972.
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Sound Football Club is an American women's soccer team in the Women's Premier Soccer League. Sound FC play its home games at Starfire Sports Stadium in Tukwila, Washington, six miles south of downtown Seattle.
Spokane, Washington has a rich sporting culture and the area residents are active in many spectator and participant sports. Although Spokane lacks any major, nationally recognized professional sports team, Spokane has a sports friendly atmosphere, and was recognized and rated #99 in the Sporting News 2006 "99 Best Sporting Cities" list. In 2009, Sports Business Journal rated Spokane as the fifth best minor league sports market in America out of 239 markets.
Joseph Aloysius Albi was an American attorney and civic leader in Spokane, Washington.
The 1969 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1969 NCAA University Division football season. Under second-year head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 1–9 record, and were outscored 339 to 143. Two home games were played on campus in Pullman at Rogers Field, with two at Joe Albi Stadium in Spokane.
The 1970 Washington State Cougars football team was an American football team that represented Washington State University in the Pacific-8 Conference (Pac-8) during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. In their third season under head coach Jim Sweeney, the Cougars compiled a 1–10 record, and were outscored 460 to 231.
The 1970 Idaho Vandals football team represented the University of Idaho as a member of Big Sky Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Vandals were led by first-year head coach Don Robbins. Without a usable stadium on their Moscow campus for a second year, they played their home games at Rogers Field at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
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Spokane Velocity FC is an American professional soccer team based in Spokane, Washington, competing in USL League One.
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Spokane Zephyr FC is a future professional women's soccer team based in Spokane, Washington, United States. It will be a member of the USL Super League, a new Division I league operated by the United Soccer League, and is scheduled to debut in August 2024. The team will play at One Spokane Stadium, a Downtown Spokane venue with 5,000 seats. Zephyr FC is owned by Aequus Sports, which also operates Spokane Velocity FC of USL League One, another stadium tenant.