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Seattle Seeks Public Comment On KeyArena Renovation Plans

Oak View Group via AP
Proposed renovation of Key Arena at Seattle Center.

Seattle is moving forward on environmental review of its planned KeyArena renovation. A draft Environmental Impact Statementwas released April 23. The public has until June 8 to comment. A public hearing on the Seattle Center arena plans will be held May 14.

The upgrade to the facility is being done to attract more professional sports teams to the city, including a National Hockey League franchise and an NBA team.

This is the just the latest development in Seattle’s ongoing attempt to bring professional men’s basketball back to the city and to get an NHL team here.  Private investors doing business as Oak View Group are undertaking the renovation. 

The Oak View Group says it has a good chance of securing a National Hockey League franchise. It's already sold 33,000 season tickets in anticipation. The group’s $600 million plan is to expand the arena’s capacity while keeping its roof, which is landmark-protected.

Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections issued the draft Environmental Impact Statement. If there are no major changes, a final EIS would be issued in September and construction could begin as early as October of this year.

The EIS is available online, where you can submit comments.

Meanwhile, another private investor, Chris Hansen, is still advocating for a new basketball arena in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle.

Paula is a former host, reporter and producer who retired from KNKX in 2021. She joined the station in 1989 as All Things Considered host and covered the Law and Justice beat for 15 years. Paula grew up in Idaho and, prior to KNKX, worked in public radio and television in Boise, San Francisco and upstate New York.