Everett council resolution lays out priorities for proposed stadium
Published 1:30 am Friday, December 12, 2025
EVERETT — Everett City Council members unanimously approved a non-binding resolution Wednesday outlining the governing body’s top priorities for the city’s yet-to-be-approved downtown stadium project.
The resolution lays out a number of requirements and goals for the proposed stadium project, also known as the Outdoor Event Center. It has a particular focus on labor rights, requiring both the stadium and its tenants to not interfere with attempts by workers to unionize, and includes a requirement for ongoing stadium jobs to meet a living wage standard.
The resolution also gives a number of specific requirements for the project, including bringing in a year-round, publicly available restaurant, and provide viewing opportunities, allowing passersby to observe ongoing events.
The resolution states the city should, among other requirements:
• “Align with available resources” and be prudently fiscally managed.
• Host at least 100 annual games and events.
• Incorporate local businesses while providing relocation support to displaced companies.
• Utilize environmentally centered construction while investing in new tree canopy.
• Partner with local schools, nonprofits and workforce training programs.
• Incorporate public art, specifically highlighting tribal heritage and the city’s organized labor history.
• Implement transportation management programming to encourage walking, biking and transit.
• Provide public reporting on progress toward the council’s goals.
“A project of this scale, and the effects, both long-term and short-term, has many challenges and many opportunities,” council member Don Schwab said Wednesday. “Some project like this needs a vision and purpose that reflects our community, and this resolution reflects that.”
Resolutions — unlike ordinances, which establish local laws — are expressions of opinion from a governing body that can provide direction to city staff.
Everett has spent years working to build or renovate a stadium after new regulations from Major League Baseball meant Funko Field, the current home of the Everett AquaSox, would need major renovations to be brought into compliance with the new rules.
Everett studied locations across the city before choosing a downtown location on the east side of Broadway between Hewitt and Pacific Avenues, in December 2024. The new stadium could also potentially host men’s and women’s United Soccer League teams.
If the stadium project goes forward, city staff said the expected cost to build it would be $82 million. The state, Snohomish County, Everett AquaSox and United Soccer League are all set to contribute millions of dollars toward the project. Everett would also issue more than $40 million in bonds, backed by future revenue from the stadium.
Everett has put about $6.8 million toward the project so far, paying mostly for design work and consultant fees. Staff previously said another $2.45 million in city cash could be necessary to complete it.
Currently, designers working on the project are undertaking “value engineering,” city staffer Scott Pattison said Wednesday, a process of considering alternative designs to save on construction, operation or maintenance costs. Pattison said the team has reached 60% design and the city will bring the project’s final budget with “a full plan” to the council for a vote early next year. The AquaSox and United Soccer League have yet to reach a lease agreement with the city for use of the proposed stadium, an Everett spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
If the project is approved, the city hopes to host the first baseball games at the stadium in April 2027.
Will Geschke: 425-339-3443; william.geschke@heraldnet.com; X: @willgeschke.
