Everett Memorial Stadium

Everett Memorial Stadium is an outdoor sports complex in Everett, Washington, which includes a stadium for football and a ballpark for baseball. Opened in 1947, it has been the home field of the Everett AquaSox, a Minor League Baseball team in the High-A West, and its predecessor, the Everett Giants, since 1984. In 2019, the ballpark became known as Funko Field. The football stadium has been home to the Everett Reign, a women's football team, since 2013. The complex is owned by the Everett School District, whose schools use both stadiums for their athletic programs. It is also home to the Puget Sound Festival of Bands, an annual marching band competition. The facility was remodeled in 1998 to have a seating capacity of 3,682 people for baseball and 12,000 for football.[1]

Everett Memorial Stadium
The baseball field in 2021
Location3900 Broadway
Everett, Washington
United States
OwnerEverett School District
OperatorEverett School District
CapacityBaseball: 3,682
Football: 12,000
Field sizeLeft Field: 330 ft (101 m)
Center Field: 395 ft (120 m)
Right Field: 330 ft (101 m)
Acreage20 acres (8.1 ha)
SurfaceArtificial turf
Construction
Opened1947 (1947)
Expanded1998
Tenants
Everett AquaSox (NWL/High-A West), 1995–present
Everett Giants (NWL), 1984–1994
Seattle Spartans (WFA), 2013–present
Everett BigFoot (USISL Pro), 1995–1996

History

The stadium sits on land donated by the Everett Lodge of Elks 479 to the Everett School District in 1947, dedicated in memory of Everett citizens who died during military service in World War II.[2] On July 9, 1967, a Canadian Football League preseason game between the BC Lions and Edmonton Eskimos was played at Memorial Stadium. It started 45 minutes late due to issues with Edmonton's aircraft prior to their arrival at Paine Field.[3] The Lions won 7–2, with no touchdowns scored by either team, in front of 6,248 spectators.[4]

The first professional team to play at the stadium was the Everett Giants, playing in the Northwest League of Class A baseball. The first Giants game held at the stadium was played against the Bellingham Mariners in front of a crowd of 3,527 on June 19, 1984.[5] As the stadium itself dates to 1947, it is one of the oldest active ballparks in Minor League Baseball.[6]

On June 17, 1987, with 3,122 fans watching, Ken Griffey Jr., playing for the Bellingham Mariners, hit his first professional home run over the left field wall, with the ball landing in the street approximately 387 feet (118 m) from home plate. A plaque on the sidewalk marks the site just outside the left field wall.[7]

The baseball stadium underwent extensive renovations in 1998, at a cost of $5 million. The upgrade increased capacity by 1,400 seats to the present 3,682 and added a larger concession area and new lighting.[8] The renovation was funded by a motel-hotel tax approved by the Washington State Legislature in 1994.[9] The Seattle University Redhawks baseball team played at Memorial Stadium in 2012 and 2013.[10]

On October 17, 2017, citing the poor condition of the field's natural grass surface when the stadium was used by the Everett High School and Everett Community College baseball teams, which rendered the field near-unusable for games played by both schools, the natural grass field was switched to an artificial surface. Work began on October 31, 2017,[11] and was completed in April 2018.[12] At the time of the switch, it was one of three ballparks in the Northwest League to have an artificial turf field. The Eugene Emeralds' PK Park and the Hillsboro Hops' Ron Tonkin Field were the others.[13]

On March 19, 2019, the Everett School Board approved a $1.1 million, eight-year sponsorship agreement with local toymaker Funko to brand the baseball field as Funko Field at Everett Memorial Stadium.[14]

The stadium's parking lot was home to a temporary COVID-19 testing center during the COVID-19 pandemic. The testing center, operated by the Snohomish Health District, opened on March 23 and closed on April 16 after processing 2,500 people.[15][16]

The track stadium was renovated in 2022 and reopened with a new surface and track.[17] The county and city government approved the development of a feasibility study that would investigate whether a new multipurpose stadium could be built in Everett to replace Funko Field. The study was spurred by updated Minor League Baseball standards and the AquaSox moving to High-A with more games.[18]

References
  1. "Everett Memorial Stadium Minor League History". Baseball-Reference. Sports Reference. Retrieved June 5, 2011.
  2. "In 1947 Everett Memorial Stadium was dedicated to veterans" (PDF). Everett School District. November 11, 2015. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  3. Overland, Wayne (July 10, 1967). "Eskimos, Lions Sacked Everett". The Edmonton Journal. p. 18. Retrieved February 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. Kerr, Grant (July 10, 1967). "Lions win hardly stirring triumph...but they scored all the points". The Province. p. 13. Retrieved February 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Rockne, Dick (June 20, 1984). "Crowd runneth over as Everett welcomes pro ball". The Seattle Times. p. E1.
  6. Hill, Benjamin (February 18, 2021). "Been a while: Oldest Minor League ballparks". MiLB.com. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
  7. Cotterill, TJ. "Minor league treasure: Ken Griffey Jr. was both the superstar and The Kid". The News Tribune. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  8. Brennan, Melanie (June 16, 1998). "Aquasox – Everett Stadium More Fan-Friendly". The Seattle Times. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
  9. Brooks, Diane (August 2, 1994). "Giants will be up first for share of hotel tax". The Seattle Times. p. B1.
  10. Boyle, John (March 27, 2013). "Nationally ranked Oregon to play Seattle U. in Everett". The Everett Herald. Retrieved February 23, 2023.
  11. "AquaSox Baseball Field Gets a Makeover". Everett AquaSox. Minor League Baseball. November 2, 2017. Retrieved March 21, 2019.
  12. Petrowski, Don (April 15, 2018). "Prep baseball gallery: Hawks top Everett in Friday game at renovated Everett stadium". MLT News. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  13. Patterson, Nick (October 17, 2017). "Everett Memorial Stadium's baseball field converting to turf". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 17, 2018.
  14. Bryan, Zachariah (March 20, 2019). "Baseball gets more fun: AquaSox venue renamed Funko Field". The Everett Herald. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
  15. Davey, Stephanie (March 24, 2020). "Temporary site allows 250 more coronavirus tests per day". The Everett Herald. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  16. Wilkinson, Eric (April 16, 2020). "Coronavirus testing site at Everett Memorial Stadium closes". KING 5 News. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
  17. Patterson, Nick (August 15, 2022). "Everett Memorial Stadium reopens with new-look field, track". The Everett Herald. Retrieved August 15, 2022.
  18. Watanabe, Ben (September 28, 2022). "City, county studying new outdoor stadium for Everett AquaSox". The Everett Herald. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
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