Difference makers: ONE Spokane Stadium provides home field for city’s student-athletes, professional soccer

Every year there are many big stories about high school athletes, coaches and teams. But this year, the most impactful story didn’t take place on the field. It was the field.

ONE Spokane Stadium opened downtown – on time and under budget – in late September.

Fans and teams gave it rave reviews as the stadium overcame a few hurdles, including initial long entry lines and mild confusion over cashless concession stands.

The stadium is a partnership between Spokane Public Schools and the Spokane Public Facilities District, providing a permanent, centrally located home – with ample free parking – for the city’s five high schools, which had been nomads since the demolition of 72-year-old Joe Albi Stadium in northwest Spokane three years ago.

“The opening of ONE Spokane Stadium marks a new era for high school athletics and activities for the Greater Spokane League and, more importantly, the five Spokane public high schools who have the good fortune to call it home,” Greater Spokane League Director Paul Kautzman said.

“The reality of ONE Spokane Stadium has far surpassed expectations. We’ve seen a steady turnout for games, and school programs received a record amount of revenue from ticket sales this fall,” SPS Executive Director of Communications Ryan Lancaster said.

It also served as a gateway and will host entries for professional men’s and women’s soccer in Spokane in the coming year.

The stadium seats 5,000 for sporting events and 10,000-15,000 for concerts and other large events. Voters approved it as part of a $500 million bond package in 2018. The facilities district operates the stadium, delivering an expected $30 million in savings to the school district during the 50-year lifespan of the stadium, according to Adam Swinyard, superintendent of the school district.

The construction came in at roughly $31 million.

“It shows we can use bond dollars efficiently; overcome the costs of inflation, the pandemic, that and all of our projects together came in under budget,” School Board President Mike Wiser said in September.

The stadium opened Sept. 28 and hosted high school football and girls soccer during the fall season.

“What an amazing venue for high school athletics and activities, surely one of the finest in the state,” Kautzman said. “ONE Spokane Stadium will allow local schools to showcase youth sports in a special, unique downtown setting and in a fashion that is something the community can be proud of for generations to come.”

“The fact that we can just go out in our backyard and just have a football game on a Friday night … It’s like, this is perfect,” Rogers senior Aaron Kinsey said in September. “This is the perfect setting, perfect everything.”

North Central, which is within easy walking distance to the new stadium, hosted GSL 2A rival Clarkston in the first football game.

“For SPS, you know, all the schools within the school district … to be a part of something like this and to be able to open up ONE Spokane Stadium was something that we will always cherish,” North Central coach Aaron Woods said.

“The atmosphere … was awesome,” Clarkston coach Brycen Bye said. “I told the kids before the game and at halftime this is like a small college-level atmosphere. … They did a great job on the stadium.”

That day, Shadle Park girls soccer beat Pullman in the first public event.

“It’s a fantastic venue,” Shadle coach Marc Mason said. “We’ve been playing at Merkel (Sports Complex), which as a shared field is not as special as something like this. So, it’s going to be great for all of our (city) schools.”

Pro soccer starts in the spring, with the new men’s team, Spokane Velocity FC, hosting the Richmond Kickers on March 16 in the first USL League One home game in franchise history.

“This is an exciting time in Spokane. It’s awesome to be hosting such a well-established team in our very first game in ONE Spokane Stadium,” Spokane Velocity FC vice president Phil Harrison said in November.

Spokane Zephyr FC, the women’s Division I Super League entry, starts in August.

“We sometimes look at Spokane and we see youth, especially around new sports, outsourcing talent,” team owner Katie Harnetiaux said in November. “And we outsource talent to the West Side, we outsource talent all over. And really the impact here is that we will not outsource talent any longer.”

Even more entertainment options are on the way for ONE Spokane Stadium. The venue is booked for its first nonsports event, the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival, in August. Organizers are in the process of lining up concerts for the summer.

“We’re being as creative as possible,” Matt Meyer, director of entertainment for the Spokane Public Facilities District, said in November. “We’re trying to put together the biggest and best events for entertainment fans. … There has never been (events) quite like this in Spokane since we never had a venue like what we have here now.”

“From construction to logistics, a lot of people put a lot of heart into transforming a parking lot into a centerpiece our city can be proud of,” Lancaster said. “It’s been an honor to watch it happen, and I’m excited to see it expand into a venue for concerts, events and professional soccer over the coming months.”