Significant dates for Seattle’s Safeco Field: — March 30, 1994 Task torce appointed to assess need for, cost, potential loca- tion, and advisability of public investment in a new Major League Baseball stadium. - ~ September 19, 1995 Proposal to increase sales tax by .01% to pay for new base- ball stadium and Kingdome improvements goes to vorers and fails by slim margin. Actual vote is 50.1% no to 49.9% yes. — October 14, 1995 Washington State legislature meets to authorize a different funding package for new ball- park only. — October 23, 1995 King County Council votes to approve funding package for the new ballpark and to estab- lish Public Facilities District. — September 9, 1996 PED board selects site south of Royal Brougham Way for new ballpark. — February 1997 Final model and design com- Groundbreaking begins. — December 1997 Roof track supports complete. — August 1998 Main concourse concrete, New ballpark named Safeco Field. — July 29, 1998 Topping out ceremony — last piece of structural steel put in place and Ken Griffey Jr. and Martinez christen Safeco Field with first batting practice home runs. — August 1998 Construction of seating plat- form completed. First roof panel completed. — September 14, 1998 First roof pane! moved 45 metres off staging plattorm over field. Construction of second roof panel underway. — October 1998 Excavation of playing surface gan. — Dec. 1998/January 1999 Construction of fina! roof panel completed. — January 1999 Installation of drainage system for playing surface began. — March 1999 Daktronics P oStar LED score- board installed. Will provide high-definition video and ani- mation images and highlights of MLB games in progress. —~ May 1999 ‘Last of 47,000 seats installed. Sod installed. — June 1999 Retractable roof operational. — fuly 15, 1999 Inaugural game at Safeco Field vs. San Diego Padres, — July 10 or 17, 2001 Major League Baseball All- Star Game at Safeco Field. For more information about ‘the Seattle Mariners and Safeco Field, go online {to www.mariners.org or call “the 24-hour hotline: 1-800- MY-MARINERS (1-800-696-2746). Seattle’s Safeco Field is a two-and-a-half hour drive south of Vancouver’s B.C. Place Stadium. For Neil Campbell, the two stadiums are workds apart. Campbell, a 56-year-old Edmonton native, is vice-pres- ident of operations at the Seattle Mariners’ new ball- park. Before raking the job two years ago, he spent three years as general manager of B.C. Place. “The magnitude of this is just mind-boggling, when you start talking abou: anything that costs $500-million,” Campbell said. “The one thing that certainly is nice with this one is they’re puting the things in che building that need to go in the building.” The fast-track, design-and- build project is packed with the latest technology and fan- friendly comforts, but it’s bal- anced with vintage motifs that recall the glory days of base- ball. Two key elements are the green grass field and retractable roof. “We have made the deci- sion that it will be an open air park and we will then cover it up when we have to,” he said. “There will be showers that drift by that we'll leave the roof open for. We are buying rain tarps for the field.” Fans will be allowed to bring their own food and non-alcoholic beverages to games. But Campbell thinks the food fare at Safeco Field will prompt people to leave their brown bags at home. “The concession facilities will be second to absolutely none. We will be able to produce and do a lot of things that traditionally don’t happen in a lot of conces- sion stands,” Fans won’t have to wait until opening day on July 15 to get their first taste of building and its employees. Campbell is in for a busy three-and-a-half months as the focus shifts from construction to operation. “Pm sure PH be running around until the first pitch gets thrown our and the hopefully I'm going to be able to sit back and enjoy the game,” he said. “The purists within our various sports fraternities don’t like to call sports ‘entertain- ment’. When the curtain goes up, the show's on and there’s not a helluva lot you can do at that point.” Safeco Field. There will be a series of open house rehearsals in early July for the Steady diet of numbers From page 13 just happens to be out for a latte, 591,000 litres of water can be drained from the field in 45 min- utes. Meanwhile, statistic- hungry fans will be fed a steady diet of numbers and facts {and frequent ads) by 11 electronic scoreboards and displays. The main centrefield screen will be capable of broadcasting High Definition TV signals — ideal for watching 3 replay of a Ken Griffey Jr. “insurance” homer. Speaking of insurance, the stadium’s name was “bought” by a Scattle- based insurance company; Safeco Corporation is paying USS1.8 million annually to hang its mon- icker on the ballpark for the next 20 years. Safeco Field, with a US$498-million price- tag, insures Seattle remains on the Major League baseball circuit for at least a few more decades. The M’s have been to the American League playoffs twice in their 22-year history. They’ve also been run by four own- ership groups. The latest is Baseball Club of Seattle Ltd., the seven-year old Nintendo-led consortium that includes Orca Bay boss John McCaw. The group bought the franchise for US$125-million and lobbied state and county governments to build a new stadium with more premium scating, private suites and concession booths just south of the Kingdome. Baseball Club of Seattle initially committed USS45 million to the new stadium, but will pay an extra USS81-million for cost overruns. In the Kingdomce, the M’s have consistently lost money: $77-million under current ownership. Attendance hit a record 3.2 million in 1997, but dropped to 2.6 million last season, thanks in part co E] Nino. After all, who wants to go inside the clammy multiplex during a cloudless summer’s eve? : Baseball bids adieu to the cavernous 59,000-seat Kingdome June 27. The concrete conundrum will remain standing until next January or February. It will then be imploded to make way for the Seattle Seahawks’ new stadium. Friday, April 2, 1999 ~ North Shore News - 19 packed with techn Starr Samuelson photos Seattle Mariners’ public information director Rebecca Hale motions toward right field during a tour of Safeco Field. Crews will instal the grass field beginning May 3. Opening night is July 15 versus San Diego. —Bob Mackin DVD theatre for movie buffs on the move Enjoy stunning pidures and sound wherever you go, with Panasonic's DVD-L10 DVD/Video CD/CD Player. The world’s first portable DVD theatre. VIDEO Magazine said “.. without doubt the must have cool gadget...” Just 65/x6 x 1272 x OFhie inches and weighing only 330zs (without battery). 5.8 inch Widescreen LCD Monitor. 4:3 and 16:9 Screen ratio selector. 2 hour ployback with supplied battery pack. Built-in stereo speakers. Headphone jack with volume control. Easy operation with on-screen menu icons. Panasonic Ulira high performance pictures and sound. *1995. t Sotut