Page 158 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Pacific Northwest

156  SEA T TLE

1 Safeco Field 2 CenturyLink
1250 1st Ave S. Map 4 D5. Field
Tel (206) 346-4000. @ 15, 18. 800 Occidental Ave S. Map 4 D4.
8 Apr–Oct: 10:30am, 12:30pm, Tel (206) 381-7555.@ 15, 18.
2:30pm daily (except game days; 8 Jun–Aug: 12:30pm & 2:30pm
check the website for details); Nov– daily; Sep–May: 12:30pm & 2:30pm Fri
Mar: 12:30pm & 2:30pm Tue–Sun. & & Sat (except days of major events).
7 ∑ seattle.mariners.mlb.com Events: Tel (206) 381-7582. & 7
∑ centurylinkfield.com
Although Seattle is a rainy city,
Seattle baseball fans have not The designers of CenturyLink
endured the disappointment Field, which opened in 2002,
of a rainout since the American were intent on factoring the city’s
League’s Seattle Mariners often inclement winter weather
christened Safeco Field on July into its design. So, despite the
15, 1999. Its size is impressive, harsh winds and rains associated
seating over 47,000 fans, who with winter in Seattle, the
enter the stadium through the stadium was left roofless. The
curved entranceway, behind end result is a spacious, open-air Entrance and rotunda of the Frye Art
the field’s home plate. stadium with unobstructed views Museum on First Hill
The stadium’s state-of-the-art of the Seattle skyline. With two
retractable roof can cover the massive 760-ft (232-m) eaves, 3 First Hill
playing field with a simple push nearly 70 percent of the 68,000 Bounded by E Pike St, E Yesler Way,
of a button. This massive roof spectator seats are shielded 12th Ave E & I-5. Map 4 E1. @ 3, 4, 12.
contains enough steel to build a from falling rain. Some visiting
skyscraper 55 stories tall. Utility teams that are unfamiliar with Nicknamed Pill Hill for its several
came with a hefty price tag, Pacific Northwest weather, hospitals and numerous doctors’
however – an unprecedented however, have found it to be offices, First Hill lies just east of
$516 million. Designed by an inhospitable environment. downtown. A pedestrian-friendly
the Seattle firm NBBJ and The stadium is home to the district (more than 40 percent of
completed in 1999, Safeco NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the its residents walk to work), First
Field became the nation’s most MLS team, Seattle Sounders FC. Hill was Seattle’s first neighbor-
expensive stadium ever built. Just as the stadium design hood, home to the city’s pioneer
With its sweeping views of by Minneapolis-based Ellerbe families. It still boasts a number
the Seattle skyline, $1.3 million Becket is unconventional, so, of the original mansions from
in public art, and such amenities too, is the mix of art scattered Seattle’s earliest days.
as a children’s playfield and within it, which draws visitors First Hill’s most recognizable
picnic patio, Safeco Field pro- from around the world. The landmark, St. James Cathedral,
vides an excellent atmosphere four Native American-inspired (804 9th Avenue) is a parish
in which to watch a Major steel disks by New Mexican church and the cathedral of the
League ball game. While many artist Bob Haozous are Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle.
games are sold out, tourists especially striking. The disks, Designed by the New York firm
may visit the stadium by taking each 24 ft (7 m) in diameter, Heins and LaFarge, the Italian
one of the regularly scheduled represent people’s interaction Renaissance structure dating
tours or visiting the Mariners with and connection to the to 1907 features two tall spires,
Hall of Fame. earth and nature. which are illuminated at night.
One block southeast of
St. James Cathedral, the Frye
Art Museum showcases the
extensive art collection of
Seattle pioneers Charles
and Emma Frye, which
features 19th- and 20th-
century French, German,
and American paintings.
Temporary exhibitions are
held throughout the year.

E Frye Art Museum
704 Terry Ave. Tel (206) 622-9250.
Open 11am–5pm Tue–Sun (to 7pm
Thu). Closed Jan 1, Jul 4, Thanksgiving,
Dec 25. 8 7 - =
The brick and steel façade of Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners ∑ fryemuseum.org
For hotels and restaurants see p288 and pp298–300

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