Why Spokane's newest high school football stadium is getting rave reviews

ONE Spokane Stadium opened to the public Thursday with a sports doubleheader, including the North Central-Clarkston football game

SPOKANE, WASHINGTON - The city's new crown jewel of a stadium held its grand public inauguration Thursday night.

ONE Spokane Stadium, the $37.9 million successor to the now-demolished Joe Albi Stadium as the primary home to five public high schools, sparkled in its debut.

The finale of opening night was the North Central-Clarkston football game - won 28-0 by the visiting Bantams.

And yet, the game result seemed secondary, at least on this night.

"There was a lot of buzz, a lot of excitement around school," North Central football coach Aaron Woods said. "Being a part of something like this is something we will always remember."

Since 1950, cavernous Joe Albi Stadium had been the primary home to Spokane football - until it closed for good two years ago.

"The last stadium was around for 70 years," said Greg Forsyth, the capital projects director for Spokane Public Schools. "We knew this was kind of a one-shot deal for us."

As the latest addition to the sports complex that includes the Spokane Arena and "The Podium" indoor track facility in north downtown, ONE Spokane Stadium not only serves Ferris, Lewis & Clark, North Central, Rogers and Shadle Park High Schools, it will also be home to three United Soccer League franchises, as well as expected to draw high-profile shows and concerts.

"From the get-go, we included a lot of different voices in this, from both sports to public facilities district to concerts," Forsyth said. "We wanted this to become an asset for all of Spokane."

Photo by Erik Smith

Some stadium-design highlights:

• It has a seating capacity of 5,000 - but enough room to expand that to 15,000 for bigger events.

• The venue has state-of-the-art LED lighting, sound system and jumbotron scoreboard - with money donated for it by the USL franchises.

• Traditional walk-up concession stands and self-pay concession stands are available, and with so much main corridor space, portable food carts can easily be brought in as well.

• As far as spectator viewing, field-level seats are so close to the action, that players can reach out and shake the hands of family and friends. "The acoustics of it were awesome," said Brycen Bye, the Clarkston football coach. "It sounds so loud all of the time. Overall, it was fun."

• The synthetic grass field, developed by Astroturf, has a couple of extra injury-preventive layers that should also extend the life of the playing surface. "We were forward-thinking ... on a budget," Forsyth said. "And I think we delivered on a lot of the things that will make the fan experience fun."

As workers scrambled to put the finishing touches on the Spokane Public Schools and Spokane Public Facilities District-partnered stadium over the past week, student-athletes and cheerleaders from each of the five high schools were invited to view the facility Saturday.

On Tuesday, community dignitaries met at the venue for a ribbon-cutting ceremony - and sports action kicked off Thursday.

"We don't really have anything like this in Spokane," North Central running back Trey Workman.

-- Todd Milles | todd@scorebooklive.com | @sblivewa