Everett council chooses downtown site for potential AquaSox stadium

EVERETT — After almost two years of studies and deliberations, the Everett City Council on Wednesday selected a downtown location as the site for a potential stadium to host the minor league AquaSox.

The council did not decide on whether a stadium will be built. That will come further along in the process after a design is completed — likely in 2025 or early 2026, according to consultants working on the project.

Wednesday’s unanimous vote, however, marks the most significant step forward so far for the AquaSox to meet new stadium requirements from Major League Baseball.

“If you build it, they will come,” said Rhys Stenhouse, a 13-year-old child who spoke in favor of the stadium Wednesday, quoting the film “Field of Dreams.”

The vote also means the city can now seek more funding from public or private investors — including, possibly, the Seattle Mariners, the team’s Major League affiliate — because the potential stadium now has a finalized site. It could also house United Soccer League men’s and women’s teams.

The stadium would be located between Hewitt Avenue and Pacific Avenue, with Broadway to the west. It would sit between Angel of the Winds Arena to the west and Everett Station to the southeast.

“While there is a lot to continue considering and still a number of uncertainties that are left to iron out, one thing is certain. We should continue to explore how we can keep the Everett AquaSox as our home team and open the doors to a new local sports partner, the United Soccer League,” council member Paula Rhyne said Wednesday. “And we should do so at a site that benefits our city the most, which is downtown.”

Council members said they had some reservations about the vague revenue and cost projections associated with the downtown stadium, but felt the AquaSox were a community asset worth investing in.

“Somewhat frustratingly, I think it’s a kind of a chicken and egg scenario,” council member Scott Bader said. “We have to spend more to feel more solid about this.”

The city’s choice to select a downtown site could also place the future of as many as 17 businesses located on the proposed stadium site in jeopardy. As the stadium’s footprint is not yet finalized, it’s unclear exactly how many businesses — including a vegan restaurant, a cafe, a mushroom shop and an information technology company, to name a few — the city may displace.

“We will be working hard to relocate those businesses within the city of Everett,” the city’s Economic Development Director Dan Eernissee said at Wednesday’s meeting. “The net loss (in taxes) would be as low as we could possibly make it.”

Mark Nysether, the owner of Hewitt Overpass LLC, said Wednesday construction of the downtown stadium would eliminate freight access to the rear of his building. Nathanael Engen, the owner of Black Forest Mushrooms, supported the downtown project, saying the stadium would strengthen economic activity.

Members of the public filled every seat in council chambers, leaving others to watch from an outer room. After the vote, there was little audible reaction and the majority of attendees left.

“Sports is community, and community is sports,” said Tammy Dunn, executive director of the Snohomish County Sports Commission. “They go hand in hand.”

The council could have chosen three options Wednesday: Renovate Funko Field, build a new stadium from the ground up downtown or do nothing and risk losing the AquaSox to another city.

Last week, a fiscal advisory committee tasked with finding options to fund the project released a report after more than a year of meetings. The report found the downtown site would be “the most fiscally beneficial option.” It said the available funding for a downtown stadium — about $95 million, at the highest end of the city’s projections — would still not be enough to complete the entire project.

A downtown stadium could cost between $84.4 million and $114.6 million, while another $18 million would need to be set aside for property acquisition. The committee recommended building the project in stages to meet the city’s budget while bringing a stadium into compliance for the 2027 minor league season.

The city would not need to increase taxes or use general fund dollars to pay for the stadium, the fiscal advisory committee said. Most of the money could come from bonds issued based on revenue projections, private investment as well as state and county contributions.

The committee recommended putting about $4.5 million of city capital improvement dollars toward the project. Those funds are restricted to larger capital or construction projects and cannot be used to pay for general fund expenses like libraries, police or employee salaries.

If a downtown stadium is built, the AquaSox will leave the Everett Public Schools-owned Funko Field, likely by the 2027 season.

In 2025, Everett Public Schools is set to receive about $100,000 from the AquaSox for use of the stadium, according to a lease agreement obtained by The Daily Herald through a records request. That includes a $66,363 payment to a capital reserve fund the district uses on facility upkeep, spent at its discretion. The team also makes an annual payment of $30,000 after it agreed to pay the district $300,000 over a 10-year period, beginning in 2017.

The team also performs about $100,000 worth of maintenance at the stadium yearly and pays for utilities the team uses during games, according to the lease agreement. The district earns 25% of the money from the sale of the stadium’s naming rights.

Everett Public Schools’ 2024-2025 budget totals over $420 million.

“If the AquaSox leave [Funko], it’s a wash, basically, with their operational costs,” Eernissee said at the meeting.

In a statement Thursday, the district said keeping the AquaSox in Everett was a “shared goal” between itself and the city, adding it “has and always will support baseball in the community.”

“We extend our gratitude to representatives from both the City of Everett and the AquaSox for their engagement in regular meetings with the district for the last 12 months,” the district said. “Throughout these discussions, the district has been fully committed to collaborating with the AquaSox and the city to renovate Funko Field in order to meet evolving facility needs, align with the city’s programming goals, and maintain the district’s longstanding commitment to high school athletics, student activities, and broader community use.”

At Wednesday’s meeting, the council also extended the city’s professional service agreement with Shiels Obletz Johnsen, a consulting firm which has worked to move the stadium project forward since November 2023. The city will pay the consultants $457,986 to extend their agreement until the end of 2025.

It brings the total Everett has spent on the project up to this point to about $1.6 million. In 2023, the city put $1.1 million toward the project, mostly spent to complete a detailed Environmental Impact Statement on the three possible options.

City Council President Don Schwab confirmed if a private investor — the United Soccer League for example — backs out of the project, the council still has the ability to switch to a different site later.

“As decision makers, we’re really trying to manage risk,” Schwab said. “The process we’ve gone through, I just don’t think we could have reduced risk any more.”

A vote to select a progressive design-build team, who would create a stadium design with more accurate cost projections, could come as early as January. If the city decides to build a stadium, construction likely won’t begin until 2026.

Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.