Everett City Council decides on location of new AquaSox ballpark
Dec 19, 2024, 7:09 AM
An overlook of Funko Field in Everett, where the Everett AquaSox play their homes games. (Photo courtesy of MLB)
(Photo courtesy of MLB)
The Everett AquaSox has found a home for its new ballpark, according to an Everett City Council vote that occurred Wednesday night.
The AquaSox, a minor league baseball team within the MLB with the Seattle Mariners as its major league affiliate, has been a staple in Everett for more than 40 years. The team has played in Funko Field since 1995.
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The stadium will be located in downtown Everett, down the street from the Angel of the Winds Arena. The planned $100 million multipurpose ballpark that spans 12.5 acres will also be used for community events with long-term goals of potentially using the facility for men’s and women’s teams in the United Soccer League.
The cost of renovating the current AquaSox stadium was approximately $70 million.
“A city is not just about the economy,” Dan Eernissee, the City of Everett’s economic director, said. “A city is about things that make it fun to live in the town.”
The city council vote came after the Stadium Fiscal Advisory Committee gave its recommendations about where a stadium should be built in Everett. If the council decided not to build a new stadium or upgrade the current facility, it would have opened a pathway for the AquaSox to leave Everett altogether due to fines from the league.
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MLB created new mandates for the minor-league affiliates, including having larger clubhouses and renovated locker rooms, improving the on-field lighting, building areas for female staffers and updating its training facilities. Every year those changes weren’t in effect, the AquaSox would be fined thousands of dollars by the league.
“The AquaSox are more than just a team, they’re the heart and soul of our community,” an Everett resident told KIRO Newsradio.
Planning and design for the new stadium will begin in early 2025, following council approval of the next phase of the project.
Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here
