Monroe School District says “no” to Explosion proposal for 2009
The Snohomish County Explosion, Monroe’s Professional basketball team, might have no home next year.
The team, which moved to Monroe last autumn from Everett, played its first Monroe season in the Monroe High School Sports Arena.
The team, which is a non-profit organization, traded about $30,000 worth of equipment to the arena, including enhanced audio and visual electronics, for the access to the gym for Saturday night games.
That was in lieu of the roughly $9,000 the team would otherwise have had to pay for the arena space rental.
The team still paid for janitorial fees and other fees.
The team only planned to occupy the space for one year. In 2009, the team hoped to be playing in a larger building that they believed the county was planning to build on the Evergreen State Fairgrounds.
But the county, which last year was considering constructing such a building, decided to hold off.
So the Explosion management approached the Monroe School District and asked if the district might make the arena available for next year.
They also asked that the district waive the fee for next year’s season, too, as they had spent more than they initially promised for the arena equipment.
“What they thought would be $23,000 turned out to be $30,000,” said Rosemary O’Neil, spokesperson for the district. “They wanted us to waive the facility use fee again, based on how much they spent last year. But the board said we can’t do that again.”
The Monroe School Board explained that it would be hard to justify giving the team free use for another year, as no other non-profit organization had been given that offer.
“I was a little blown away by that position, after all we put into the arena and the school,” said Brad Sturlaugson, General Manager of the team.
The team not only invested $7,000 more than planned into the arena last year, the team initiated a math program for school students that was a success, he said.
And no one else wanted the arena the nights the Explosion needed to use it, he went on.
But the benefit to the school isn’t the real reason the district allowed the use the first year, said O'Neil.
“We had several conversations with Monroe Chamber of Commerce Director Neil Watkins last year,” she said. “Last year, he came over and said ’We really need you guys to help out, it would be great for the business community for the team to come but they don't have a place to play.’ The school board said, ‘We’ve benefitted from a strong relationship with the business community for many years, we ought to help.’”
The team would be welcome to come back for a second season, she said, but not without paying facility use fees.
The team won’t necessarily move away because of the school board’s decision, said Sturlaugson.
But they might not stay, either.
“Staying is our best option but we’re looking at all our options,” said Sturlaugson.
The first year in Monroe wasn’t the financial success the team had hoped for, he went on, but it was a strong start.
Other options the team is considering include moving to the Tri-Cities area, finding an investor to build a multi-use sports facility in Monroe that could accommodate the team, or perhaps still finding a home at the fairgrounds, should the facility yet be constructed.
“It may be we’ll only have to pay two or three years at the school until we’re in a place,” said Sturlaugson. “If that’s the case, Monroe still looks like a good option for us.”
Back to main page