Starfire Sports Complex
 |
|
| Former names | Fort Dent Park Starfire Sporting Complex Starfire Sports Complex |
|---|---|
| Location | 6840 Fort Dent Way Tukwila, WA 98188 |
| Owner | Starfire Sports |
| Operator | Starfire Sports |
| Capacity | 4,500 (at main stadium) |
| Surface | 5 grass fields 7 outdoor FieldTurf fields (inc. stadium) 2 indoor FieldTurf fields |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | June 20, 2003 |
| Opened | April 23, 2005 |
| Architect | HOK Sport |
| Tenants | |
|
Seattle Sounders Women (W-League) (2003–Present) FK Pacific (PCSL) (2003–2007) Hibernian & Caledonian (PCSL) (2004–2006) Seattle Sounders (USL-1) (2008) Tacoma Stars (PASL) (2011–2012) Seattle Reign FC (NWSL) (2013) Seattle Sounders FC 2 (USL) (2015–present) |
|
Starfire Sports is a sporting facility in Tukwila, Washington, on the banks of the Green River, near Seattle. It is operated by the non-profit corporation Starfire Sports. At the time of its opening, CEO Chris Slatt believed it to be "the largest synthetic-turf soccer complex in the U.S."
The site was formerly Fort Dent Park, operated by King County. In addition to the existing grass soccer fields, the park included a cricket pitch and softball fields in the areas now occupied by artificial-surface soccer fields. Severe budget cuts in 2002 led the county to schedule the closing of this park, among others, at the end of the year; however, parks that were located within municipal boundaries were offered to those cities. That offer sparked the formation of Starfire Sports by Slatt, Steve Beck and Mark Bickham, who negotiated a 40-year lease with the city of Tukwila to allow them to build and operate the complex. This would relieve the city of an estimated $500,000 in annual maintenance costs which would likely have caused it to refuse the county’s offer had Starfire not stepped in. Starfire plans to cover operating and maintenance costs through user fees and advertising banners and hopes to retire the $10 million construction costs over the course of several years.
New construction included four lighted outdoor soccer fields with FieldTurf, including the stadium with its 2000-seat grandstand, along with the indoor facility.
Beginning in summer 2004, English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United offered training at Starfire as part of their Soccer Schools program. This came to an end in December 2007.
The city of Tukwila still maintains a wooded part of the 54-acre (220,000 m2) site as a public park. An expansion was unanimously approved by city leaders in a public hearing at the beginning of 2008 for the offices and training facilities of Seattle Sounders FC.
...
Wikipedia