Damaged seats are seen behind the backstop Thursday afternoon at Wheeler Field in Centralia.
Many of the 500-plus seats that ring Centralia’s Wheeler Field have borne witness to great moments of baseball.
Not only have the seats supported fans as they watched local high school teams contend for state championships, they were present in the Kingdome in 1995 when Ken Griffey Jr. scored the series-winning run in an American League Division Series game and for years of Seahawks games.
Those seats arrived in Centralia less than a year after the Kingdome was demolished in 2000. But after 150-180 games a year since then, they’re on their last legs, and the city of Centralia is looking to replace some, if not all of them, within the next year.
Centralia Community Development Director Emil Pierson showed examples of torn up, splintering chairs in the section behind home plate during a presentation at a recent city council meeting.
Also on display at the meeting was an example of what’s slated to replace the old seats: a gray, all-weather model from Irwin Seating Company that come at a cost of $35,000 for the 188 units expected to be installed.
“We started looking at replacing the seats last year,” Pierson said at the council meeting. “Those seats are the ones that are used the most. … We wanted to go with something neutral, but match with our existing (red) seats we will not be replacing at this time.”
A major selling point of the Irwin model is that each part can be replaced individually. Instead of the city needing to buy an entire new chair, it could replace just the back or the seat itself.
Pierson also disclosed that the fiberglass seating on the first-base side of the field are likely going to be replaced with aluminum bleachers.
Those seats are in such disrepair that patrons are getting splinters just by sitting on them. If they can’t be temporarily repaired, that section may be closed off indefinitely.
Many of the other seats at Wheeler Field do not show the same wear and tear as the ones behind home plate, but that didn’t stop council members from raising the idea of a full-scale swap.
Councilor Rebecca Staebler and Mayor Pro-tem Max Vogt each broached the subject when addressing Pierson. Vogt said that one thing he’s learned during his time in politics is to “do it now and do it right, or do it later and it will cost more.”
The city would almost certainly get a per-unit price break if it were to buy double the seats. Finances also caught the attention of councilors Peter Abbarno and Joyce Barnes. Abbarno pressed Pierson to speak with local businesses about sponsoring blocks of seats in exchange for plaques attached to said seats.
He and Barnes also asked that the Wheeler Field Committee or Twin Cities Sports Commission be involved financially. Pierson responded that the Wheeler Field Committee has been working with private businesses on field-related projects.
“You’ll see in the budget process in a couple of weeks, you’ll see about 10 things that need to be fixed at Wheeler Field,” Pierson said. “Everything from fencing to painting. … we’re going to be under a very small window to get (the seats) in between seasons.”
