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Overview

Erected on the ashes of the Kingdome, the $430 million Seahawks Stadium, exhibition center and 2,000-space parking garage opened next to Safeco Field, the home of the American League's Seattle Mariners in the summer of 2002. Work began on the project in 09/1998, and required three architectural firms and a host of contractors and sub-contractors to complete. During its first 15 years of service, it has become one of the loudest and most notorious football environments in the US. The stadium has held as many as 69,055 fans for a football game.

Building History

This stadium and its adjacent East and West Field Events Centers, opened on 07/28/2002. The field was built to house the Seattle Seahawks National Football League (NFL) franchise, owned at the time by Microsoft Co-founder, Paul G. Allen (1953-2018). An event center hosting conventions and exhibitions was located just to the stadium's south. Turner Construction served as the main general contractor. ACM Engineering served as the civil design / project engineer for the stadium.

Building Notes

The King County Domed Stadium (Kingdome) formerly occupied the site of Seahawks Stadium. It was known as "Seahawks Stadium" for only two years, 2002-2004.

This 72,000-seat stadium covered 35 acres and cost $500 million; built at the same time were a 200,000-square-foot Exhibition Center and a 2,000-vehicle parking garage.

Seahawks Stadium was the first NFL team to install FieldTurf, an artificial, polyethylene turf substitute marketed by the French company, Tarkett Incorporated. The first installation of this ersatz grass was at Dick Bivins Stadium, administered by the Amarillo Independent School District (AISD) in 1998, followed by an application on the University of Nebraska Memorial Stadium's Tom Osborne Field in 1999. Two West Coast schools, Washington State University (WSU) and the University of Washington (UW) installed it in 2000. The Seahawks experienced using it while playing at UW's Husky Stadium, and chose it over real grass in 2002.

Seahawks Stadium has been known under several corporate names since 2004. From 2004-2011 it was known as "Qwest Field" for the telecommunications firm Qwest Communications International, Incorporated, that paid an undisclosed amount for naming rights in 06/2004. (See Greg Lamm, Puget Sound Business Journal.com, "Qwest buys naming rights to Seahawks Stadium," published 06/01/2004, accessed 09/03/2021.) In 04/2011, Qwest merged with CenturyLink, Incorporated, and the naming rights transferred to the former. CenturyLink extended its naming rights agreement with the Washington State Public Stadium Authority in 2017, to last until 2033. CenturyLink renamed itself "Lumen" in 09/2020, and the Washington State Public Stadium Authority voted to rename the building "Lumen Field" on 11/19/2020. (See Kurt Schlosser, geekwire.com, "Seattle’s CenturyLink Field, home of the Seahawks and Sounders, to be renamed Lumen Field," published 11/19/2020, accessed 09/03/2021.)

Along with Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO, the Seahawks home field has been one of the two loudest football venues in American history. Crowd noise measured 137.6 decibels during a game against the New Orleans Saints on 12/02/2013. This record was subsequently reclaimed by Chiefs fans when they hit a deafening 142.2 decibels on 09/29/2014 during a contest against the New England Patriots.

Alteration

The Seahawks added two Mitsubishi Electric Diamond Vision video displays to the stadium in 2012.

The Detroit, MI-based sports architecture firm, Rossetti, supervised alteration work in Centurylink Field in 2013. The project, erected by Abbott Construction, took two months to complete . According to the architect's web site: "ROSSETTI repurposed a defunct banquet space into the new 3,560-square-footBrougham Beer Hall, capitalizing on the millennial preference for communal socializing. To compete with neighborhood establishments, Brougham features an expanded menu of authentic Seattle food and an extensive list of craft beers. ROSSETTI also completely renovated the stadium’s underperforming Pro Shop, doubling the square footage and creating an immersive and flexible boutique-style environment. A multi-brand design strategy features lifestyle displays, bold graphics and lighting effects. Pacific Northwest style is reinterpreted using a blue-stained pine facade. This became the common ground to communicate each of the two brands within the same store. ROSSETTI installed a 48' clear opening using a Nanawall system to create the central flex space. It is merchandised for either the Seahawks or Sounders, depending on the team in play that day." (See Rossetti, "CenturyLink Field," accessed 04/18/2017.) The Brougham Beer Hall, located on the CenturyLink Field Main Concourse, just outside Section 128, was finished for use by 08/2013.

Rossetti was asked back to redesign the stadium's memorabilia shop in 2016. Again the Rossetti site said of the effort: "In 2016, ROSSETI renovated the existing 221-seat press box, reducing it to 210 seats to allow the addition of four new suites starting at the 40-yard line. Of those four suites, ROSSETTI developed two traditional premium suites and two non-traditional mini suites attached to a 500 SF communal area. This strategy by the Seahawks will generate $750k in revenue and will be profitable within 5 years, exceeding the initial strategic study." (See Rossetti, "CenturyLink Field," accessed 04/18/2017.)

In 2016, the Seahawks also added a new promotional seating area called the Toyota Fan Deck. The Seahawks web site stated: "This past offseason, the Seahawks constructed the Toyota Fan Deck, which adds 1,000 padded seats in two new seating sections in the south end upper level. Additionally, the Seahawks also added eight new suites to help accommodate the growing demand." (See Seattle Seahawks.com, "About CenturyLink Field," accessed 04/18/2017.)

PCAD id: 6622