Kingdome

The Kingdome (officially King County Multipurpose Domed Stadium) was a multi-purpose stadium located in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. Owned and operated by King County, the Kingdome opened in 1976 and was best known as the home stadium of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB), and the Seattle SuperSonics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The stadium was also the home stadium of the Seattle Sounders of the North American Soccer League (NASL) and hosted numerous amateur sporting events, concerts, and other events.

The idea of constructing a covered stadium for a major league football and/or baseball team was first proposed to Seattle officials in 1959. After voters rejected separate measures to approve public funding for such a stadium in 1960 and 1966, in 1968 King County voters approved the issue of US$40 million in municipal bonds to construct the stadium. Construction began in 1972 and the stadium opened in 1976 as the home stadium of the Sounders and Seahawks. The Mariners moved in the following year, and the SuperSonics moved in the next year, only to move back to the Seattle Center Coliseum in 1985. The stadium hosted several major sports events, including the Pro Bowl in 1977, the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in 1979, the NBA All-Star Game in 1987, and the NCAA Final Four in 1984, 1989, and 1995.

During the 1990s both the Seahawks' and Mariners' respective ownership groups began to question the suitability of the Kingdome as a venue for each team, threatening to relocate unless new, publicly funded stadiums were built. At issue was the fact that neither team saw their shared tenancy as profitable, as well as the integrity of the stadium's roof as highlighted by the collapse of ceiling tiles onto the seating area before the start of a scheduled Mariners game. As a result, public funding packages for new, purpose-built stadiums for the Mariners and Seahawks were approved in 1995 and 1997, respectively. The Mariners moved to Safeco Field midway through the 1999 season, and the Seahawks temporarily moved to Husky Stadium following the 1999 season. The Kingdome was demolished by implosion on March 26, 2000; the Seahawks' new stadium, Seahawks Stadium (now known as CenturyLink Field) was built on the site.

Seattle and King County will pay off the bonds used to build and repair the Kingdome in 2016, sixteen years after its demolition.