By Alex Coffey
When the Seattle Mariners, the Public Facilities District and architecture firm NBBJ met in late 1996, they had some important decisions to make. A funding package had recently been approved for a new facility to be built south of the Kingdome. But referring to Safeco Field as a “facility” seemed to be counterintuitive. Facilities are cold and unfamiliar — two things the ballpark at the intersection of Edgar and Dave was never meant to be.
From the start, the Mariners intended for Safeco Field to be more than a place to play games. They wanted it to be a destination that would become a baseball mecca for generations of families to come.