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1999 - A BANNER YEAR
With Major League Baseball's
millennium season just two months away, I am reminded of last
summer, when Safeco Field grew out of the dust around Seattle's
south side and brought baseball back to the outdoors, where it
belongs. I had been preparing for July 15, 1999 - Opening Day -
for two years with preliminary sketches and ideas based on what I
thought the exterior of the ballpark would look like. But sometime
in April, when I noticed the wide-open I-Beam structure facing
Royal Brougham and 1st Avenue on the north side if the stadium, I
saw the perfect place to make an impact with large format
graphics.
FIRST PITCH
Guided by my client, Kevin Martinez,
Director of Marketing for the Seattle Mariners, and armed with my digital camera, I stood
in the rain outside the Kingdome BP Station, envisioning the large format graphic image banners
that would soon adorn the mass of green steel. (Kevin now uses terms like "large format" and
"spray jet applied" as if it's his native language. He lives and breathes graphic imaging!)
Seeing us standing there in the rain, no one could have imagined what we were doing taking
pictures of the steel structure. Quite frankly, we weren't sure if our idea was even possible.
Would it fit the budget? Would the city allow it? After all, our idea was a little out of the
ordinary.
Our concept was simple. Kevin and I
had scored a winner a few years before with a super-sized Ken Griffey banner on the east
Kingdome wall. The project had won rave reviews from both players and fans during the Mariners'
playoff runs. Kevin and I would put up large format banners to stir up excitement in the
brand new Safeco Field. The image of Junior's perfect swing and Jamie Moyer's slow curve wind-up
would set the tone for fans as they poured into the northwest entrance.
Being a baseball fan first and
manufacturer second, this was an opportunity for me to have fun with what I do. My goal was
to push the envelope and bring color and life to the cold steel of the ballpark facade - it was
the one my kids and I would remember the rest of our lives. This was our ballpark!
SEVENTH INNING STRETCH
Design and installation ideas in hand,
we approached the city for our permit. After a few meetings, some serious lead
calculations (and more steel attached to the existing I-Beams) ,we were ready for construction. I was
elated. It was going to happen! This would be only the second attempt in the new stadium
technology to install 30'X 35' flex graphic images completely stretched to a tensioning system
designed by our team of fabric engineers. We knew we could do it; we had done it
before with the super-sized Ken Griffey banner on the Kingdome
just across the street. Everything was in place. The challenge now
was that it was June30th - we had only 15 days to meet our
deadline and the cameras of Opening Day.
EXTRA INNINGS
The will and expertise of some very
dedicated Rainier craftsmen saw that the two large banners, as well as 15 double-sided banners
along 1st Avenue, were completed on time. On opening Day, I was able to enjoy my first hotdog
under the new banners in the most beautiful baseball stadium on
the planet! In my twenty years at Rainier
Industries, I've never seen our crew enjoy itself more working to meet this deadline. The long hours and
extra work were worth it because this was baseball - it was our Field of Dreams. We will always
remember the summer of '99 and opening Day at Safeco Field.
Bruce W. Dickinson
Rainier Industries, Ltd.
Footnote: Ken Griffey Jr. was traded
to the Cincinnati Reds the day after this article was written. Luckily for the Mariners, the
banner system is designed to be interchangeable. |
