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Kingdome
Seattle, WA
During the Seattle Seahawks tenure at the
Kingdome, the stadium was generally depicted as rather ugly and
not favored by many fans.
Discussion of building a
dome stadium for a professional team was first deliberated in the
1960s. The location of where such a stadium would be constructed was
the most debated issue. Finally in 1972, a site for a dome
stadium was selected in southern downtown Seattle.
During the same year, a group of businessmen from Seattle
announced their intentions to obtain a NFL franchise.
After much debate, construction of a dome multipurpose stadium
officially began on November 2, 1972. The dome was completed by March 1976. The stadium was named Kingdome
due to it's location
in King County, Washington.
By 1976, Seattle was awarded both a
football team (Seahawks) and a baseball team (Mariners). The
Seattle Seahawks played their inaugural first game in front of
66,000 fans at the Kingdome on September 12, 1976. The Kingdome
was a large stadium consisting of three tiers of seating. The first and second decks
circled the entire stadium and the upper deck extended nearly 80
percent around the stadium. The main video/scoreboard was located
over the south end zone seats. The Kingdome was a very cavernous
stadium, with the dome roof 250ft. over the Astroturf playing
surface.
The Kingdome underwent very few changes during its existence. In the
1990s, the Seahawks and the Mariners lobbied to have new
stadiums built for them. Both teams succeeded in getting new stadiums. The
Mariners moved out of the Kingdome during the 1999 MLB season and
moved into Safeco Field. However, in order for the Seahawks to move
into a new stadium, they had to first move out of the Kingdome so
it could be imploded and a new stadium be built. The
Seahawks played their last game at the Kingdome on December 26, 1999
against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Kingdome was imploded on March 26, 2000. During the 2000 and
2001 seasons the Seahawks temporarily played at Husky Stadium, home of the
Washington Huskies. In September 2002, the Seahawks moved into their new stadium,
Qwest Field.
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FACTS &
FIGURES |
KINGDOME PICTURES |
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stadimsofnfl.com
Matt Angle |
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