Published October 2003

OPEN FOR BUSINESS

Illustration courtesy of LMN Architects “This is a first-class facility for Everett,” Fred Safstrom, executive director of the Everett Public Facilities District, said about the Everett Events Center, illustrated above. “We expect 600,000 people a year to be attracted to it, which will also mean more business downtown in the evening and on weekends, helping the city to grow its retail district.”

Center to bring entertainment,
opportunity downtown

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

The $71.5 million Everett Events Center is open for business — the business of sports, entertainment, rodeos and concerts.

It’s open for the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League, Disney on Ice, the Harlem Globetrotters, Sesame Street Live and other shows.

It’s open for public skating, from figure skating lessons to local hockey league practices. And in November, it’ll be open for the new headquarters of the Everett Area Chamber of Commerce and for business and social gatherings in its nearly 12,000-square-foot ballroom and its three additional executive meeting rooms.

Plus, three new retail spaces on Hewitt Avenue are beckoning to prospective tenants, who will add more attractions for the city’s new Events Center.

After 18 months, 370,000 bricks and the raising of a pair of 200-foot-high masts, the Everett Events Center is open, completed ahead of schedule and right on budget, a great relief to its owner, the Everett Public Facilities District, and Executive Director Fred Safstrom.

“I can’t say enough positive things about the work of PCL, LMN Architects, PBK Architects and the entire design/build team, including all the subcontractors. They did fabulous work,” Safstrom said.

The project changed as it grew. During the process, thousands of square feet of meeting and conference center space were designed into the 350,000-square-foot center; more exterior brick was added to match the style of Hewitt Avenue’s historic brick buildings; a larger, grander entrance was created on the north side; and a public ice sheet was included.

One of the success factors designed into the building is its flexibility. The events center’s ability to host a variety of activities includes combining the two ice arenas — minus the ice — to create 57,000 square feet of display space for RV shows, trade shows or other special programs.

“This venue will be one of the finest facilities in the (Western Hockey) league,” said Doug Soetaert, the Everett Silvertips’ vice president and general manager.

“It’s all about great entertainment with a view,” added Kim Bedier, general manager for Global Spectrum, the center’s management company.

Earl Dutton, chairman of the Everett Public Facilities District Board, called the center “an amazing addition to the city of Everett.”

“This is a first-class facility for Everett,” Safstrom said. “We expect 600,000 people a year to be attracted to it, which will also mean more business downtown in the evening and on weekends, helping the city to grow its retail district. We think the events center will help to promote new development and building renovation in the downtown core.”

Helping to promote the center’s presence will be a variety of local restaurants, with food from The Flying Pig and Alfy’s Pizza, products from Scuttlebutt Brewery in Everett and refreshments from Diamond Knot brewery in Mukilteo. Safstrom said several other businesses are discussing participating in the center’s variety of food and drink menus but contracts are not yet ready to be announced.

Snohomish County Business Journal/JOHN WOLCOTT In early September, crews were installing the scoreboard and video screens for the Everett Events Center arena, which can seat some 8,250 for hockey games.

At the center’s Sept. 27 community “open house” the public filled the 350,000-square-foot entertainment venue for the first time, gawking at the giant sheet of ice and thousands of seats that will be the future venue of hockey games, basketball tournaments, school graduations and music concerts.

For the opening, the Everett Symphony performed in the main arena, the crowd mingled with magicians, jugglers, live bands and local dance groups while the public rink was open for free skating.

Now, with people in the building, the center “becomes real,” Safstrom said, which is what’s needed to generate even more community support.

“Like everyone, business people like to see what’s here before investing. We have interest in the three retail spaces; we’re in discussions with two different parties for naming rights; and we have suites for sale.

“Because of the economy, the sponsorship and advertising sales have been slower than we expected but those will pick up when the economy picks up. We’ve already announced that Northwest Plus Credit Union will be a sponsor,” he said.

But the same slow economy has helped, too, he said, by providing lower construction costs, less costly materials and historically low interest rates.

Now, however, the focus on the months of construction — which brought scores of workers and millions of dollars of investment into downtown Everett — is yielding to a vision of what the future of Everett may be like with the economic stimulus of the Events Center.

“We have a facility that will attract events and people and a venue that has great visibility. The last row in the arena is the same distance from the ice as the last seat in Key Arena’s first section,” said Eric Blankenship, Global Spectrum’s director of marketing and sales. “And for performers, too, this is the kind of venue they like, where a full house is 10,000 people and there is an intimacy you can’t get in giant stadiums.”

Another plus for the center is that its distinctive cable-stayed roof design provided an efficient structural system that also eliminated many support columns inside the building, which translated into unobstructed views of arena events from every seat in the house.

“The events center will be a major factor in the recovery of downtown Everett’s economy, which has been a long road. For many years, downtown was isolated in many ways,” Safstrom said. “This center brings a whole new element that will draw people here, it will draw retailers here, and with people and retailers, it will attract downtown redevelopment.”

Related: Business groups already making use of center
Related: Bringing people, dollars to area
Related: Silvertips' ticket sales ramp up with season
Related: PFD projects and economic boost countywide

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