Seattle's Memorial Stadium set for public goodbye, open house Thursday

For nearly eight decades, Memorial Stadium has been a home for high school sports, concerts, graduation ceremonies, and much, much more. Marcus Pimpleton said the stadium is where he found his confidence and a higher calling.

“My best memories are music,” Pimpleton told KOMO News as he sat in the stadium one last time. “It was transformative in my life.”

Pimpleton said he was just a middle schooler when he got involved with the Seattle Schools All-City Marching Band, often practicing until late at night in the stadium, in the shadow of the Space Needle. At a certain point, he realized there were people from colleges and other higher education mentors in the rickety old stands watching him participate in the band.

“It was, for me, when the idea of college became real,” Pimpleton recalled. “I didn't have that in my family, or knowing people that were in universities. These were the first people who were in universities, and I could see myself, fast forward five years, where they are.”

Pimpleton shared his memories in advance of a public goodbye to the stadium before it is demolished to make way for a new $140 million project paid for by a voter-approved bond, city money, and private contributions.

The Memorial Wall will remain in place, but everything else will be torn down, and a 6,500-seat stadium will be built on the spot at Seattle Center. The final documents were approved by the city and Seattle Public Schools earlier this month before the final graduation ceremonies at the old stadium this past weekend.

The One Roof Partnership, along with the city of Seattle and Seattle Public Schools, will hold an “open house” for the closure on Thursday, June 26, from 4-7 p.m. There will be food trucks at the event, and visitors are encouraged to share their photos and memories that could be shared on the big screen at the event. Click here to share your Memorial Stadium story.

One Roof and the Oak View Group will manage the new stadium, which will create a more open concept on the Seattle Center campus. SPS will have priority for events, but it is expected that the venue will be used for professional sports games, concerts and other events like in the past.

The spot has been a stadium location for nearly 100 years, dating back to Civic Field, which opened near what is now Fifth Avenue North back in 1927.

Voters approved a new stadium with a Memorial Wall for SPS Alumni who died in World War II, and that stadium opened in 1947. The Seattle Center campus was built around it. The stadium has hosted numerous high school sporting events and was a key location for the 1962 World’s Fair at Seattle Center, but years of unfunded maintenance have taken a toll, with glaring concrete cracks, rusted fountains, and even war-era barbed wire still lining the south side.

The new Memorial Stadium is scheduled to open in 2027.

Pimpleton said he’s probably participated in 500 band practices at the site, but noticed in recent years how the stadium had become weathered, with rats and rabbits feasting on the bramble on the western bowl.

Yet, now, Pimpleton hopes the new stadium can be an inspiration for young students like the one he used to be.

Pimpleton went on to get his doctorate and master's degrees from the University of Washington. He led the music department at Denny International Middle School, won a Washington State Golden Apple Award and the Phillip B. Swain Excellence in Teaching Award. He’s now the principal at Mukilteo’s Mariner High School.

He’s also in his 31st year with the band and his 21st year as the director and program coordinator, and works as an assistant director with the UW athletic bands.

But it all started in the shadow of the Space Needle, in the heart of the Emerald City.

“There's a space for every kid,” he said. “I think that this setting is just a reminder that it is possible.”