Originally built for the 1962 World's Fair, the 74-acre (30 ha) Seattle Center is an arts, educational, tourism and entertainment center in Seattle. Its landmark feature is the 605-foot (184 m) tall Space Needle, a now-iconic building that was, at its completion, the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. Seattle Center is located just north of Belltown in the Uptown neighborhood.
International Fountain, located in the middle of the campus, operates all year round. Built for the 1962 World's Fair, the fountain was built as a modernist water sculpture and extensively updated in 1995. With over 20 spouts, the fountain goes through programmed cycles of shooting water patterns, accompanied by recorded world music. The music is changed twice a month, chosen to coordinate with the water patterns and events programming at the center.The Space Needle, an official city landmark, with its observation deck and revolving restaurantSeattle Center Monorail terminusSeattle Center Armory (known as the Center House from the early 1970s until 2012, and the Food Circus from 1962 to the early 1970s) This includes the Center House Theater, home to Seattle Shakespeare Company and Book-It Repertory Theatre, as well as the Children's Museum, The Center High School and the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Before the World's Fair, the building was an armory. Center House is an official city landmark.Museum of Pop Culture (MoPOP, formerly EMP Museum)Chihuly Garden and GlassFisher Pavilion at Seattle CenterThe Kobe Bell, an official city landmarkThe Mercer Arena, formerly a sports, concerts, and opera venue before sitting dormant, is currently being redeveloped as the future home of Seattle Opera.The outdoor Mural Amphitheatre, featuring a mosaic mural by Paul Horiuchi: the Horiuchi Mural, created for the World's Fair, is an official city landmark.The Northwest Rooms, once a small conference center, now houses SIFF Film Center, The VERA Project and the headquarters of KEXP 90.3 FM.Pacific Science Center, home of the Boeing IMAX Theater, PACCAR IMAX Theater (formerly Eames IMAX Theater ), and Seattle Laser DomeSeattle Center PavilionSeattle Center Skate Park aka Sea Sk8 ParkA piece of the Berlin WallSeattle Repertory Theatre, home of the Bagley Wright Theatre, the Leo Kreielsheimer Theatre, and the PONCHO ForumCenter House Theater, home of the Seattle Shakespeare Company and Book-It Repertory TheatreTheatre Puget SoundThe Center SchoolThe Cornish Playhouse at Seattle Center, home of productions of the Cornish College of the ArtsMarion Oliver McCaw Hall, home of the Seattle Opera and shared as a performance space with the Pacific Northwest Ballet, whose ballet school is adjacent. This is the third performance space on this site, the second being the Opera House built at the time of the World's Fair.SIFF Cinema, the year-round home of the Seattle International Film Festival features world cinema all year, as well as during the regular Festival Season in May and June.Seattle Children's TheatreThe Vera Project (or VERA)KeyArena is the current home court of the Seattle University Redhawks men's basketball team and the Seattle Storm of the WNBA. It was the home of the NBA's Seattle SuperSonics, now the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Seattle Thunderbirds (Western Hockey League) ice hockey. KeyArena opened 22 years ago in October 1995 and is a rebuilt version of the Seattle Center Coliseum, which opened in 1962. The arena hosts over 100 events per year and was the region's top live concert touring venue in 2016 (according to Venues Today magazine)Memorial Stadium, a high school football and soccer stadium, which predates the World's Fair is the home of Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).Seattle Center hosts many cultural, music and arts festivals. Major attractions include:
BumbershootSeattle Center Festál, a year-long series of 24 world cultural events, the largest of which is Northwest FolklifePrideFest PrideFestBite of SeattleWinterfestSeattle Center Winterfest runs from the day after Thanksgiving to January 1. It is an annual celebration including ice skating, artistic and cultural performances, concerts, student showcases from area schools, storytelling, exhibits and movies. Winterfest also includes the Seattle trademark miniature train and village and New Year's Eve concert.
Winterfest includes several collections of performances, such as:
Winter Train & Village: A large train layout featuring steam trains running amid a Victorian-era city.Winterfest Ice Rink in Fisher PavilionMaster Ice Sculpting ever Saturday afternoonNew Year's Eve CelebrationOther Winterfest events include:
Bailadores de BronceSeattle's Best JazzDickens CarolersSANCA Cirrus CircusThe Magic of Budd & DurginLelavision, modern and aerial dance'Winterfest Student Showcases Student Showcases provide entertainment as part of our seasonal offerings and give aspiring young performers at public and private schools the opportunity to share their artistic accomplishments with family, friends and the community. In 2016 4,566 young artists participated in 107 performances.
Seattle PrideFest is the Official Seattle Gay Pride Festival held annually at Seattle Center over Pride Weekend. The festival takes place on the last Sunday in June between 11am and 7pm. This event used to take place in neighboring Capitol Hill's Volunteer Park, but had out grown its residential location. It was decided to move the annual parade to downtown and festival to the Seattle Center to better accommodate the growing attendance. In 2007, Egan Orion of One Degree Events took over the Seattle Pride Festival just six weeks before the event was held in order to save the event and help preserve the move to the Center the year before. 2008 had record numbers at the Seattle Center with over 50,000 people attending on a 95 degree day in June, with over 100 vendors and dozens of sponsors participating.
There is a long history of consecutive plans for physically revision of Seattle Center. In 2007, the 17-member Seattle Center Century 21 Committee appointed to consider potential changes presented a set of four plans. The Seattle Center Century 21 master plan report. Seattle City Council adopted the Century 21 Master Plan in 2008. Several redevelopment projects have been completed including Seattle Center Skatepark, Broad Street Green, Seattle Center Armory (partially complete), Theater Commons, Chihuly Garden and Glass and Artists at Play.
