Safeco Field, sometimes simply referred to as "Safeco" for short or even "The Safe," is the home of the Seattle Mariners baseball club. The stadium has a retractable roof with a train line running under the roof when it is open. Trains can be heard blowing their horns during the games. The stadium seats 46,621 for baseball. It was the host for the 2001 MLB All-Star Game. Other events have been held at Safeco Field, including the 2001 college football Seattle Bowl and WrestleMania XIX, which set a Safeco Field attendance record of 54,097 in 2003.

On March 30, 1994, King County executive Gary Locke appointed a task force to assess the need for a new baseball stadium to replace the rapidly-deteriorating Kingdome. Many feared that the Mariners would leave Seattle if a new stadium was not built. In January 1995, the 28-member task force recommended to the King County Council that the public should be involved in the financing of the stadium. The task force concluded that a sales tax increase of .01% would be sufficient to fund the stadium. King County held a special election in September 1995, asking the public for this sales tax increase. The measure was narrowly defeated.

A special session of the Washington State legislature was called, and on October 14, a new revenue package was authorized. The stadium would be funded by a credit against the state sales tax, lottery funds, a .3% restaurant and bar tax, special license plates, and stadium admissions tax. The next week, the King County Council voted to approve this measure and created the Public Facilities District, which would own the stadium and oversee its construction.

On September 9, 1996, the site was selected for the new stadium, just south of the Kingdome. In late fall, several members of the King County Council wrote a letter to the Seattle Mariners, stating that they did not believe that public money should fund this project. In response, the Seattle Mariners held a news conference stating that they would either sell the team, or move the team from Seattle. After a public outcry, the King County Council voted to reaffirm their cooperation with the Mariners in building a new stadium.

Construction officially began on March 8, 1997 with a groundbreaking ceremony featuring Mariners star Ken Griffey, Jr. The naming rights to the stadium were sold to the Seattle-based insurance company Safeco. Construction continued until July 1999. The first game was played on July 15, 1999 against the San Diego Padres.

Safeco Field has a unique retracting roof that, unlike those of stadiums like the Rogers Centre, Chase Field and Minute Maid Park, only acts as an umbrella for the stands and field rather than forming a complete enclosure.

[Source: Wikipedia]

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