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Dugdale Baseball Park burns on July 5, 1932.

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On July 5, 1932, a fire destroys Dugdale Baseball Park in the Rainier Valley. The wooden structure is home to the Seattle Indians professional baseball club. After the fire the club moves to the Civic Stadium near Queen Anne Hill.

Dugdale Park was built at the corner of Rainier Avenue S and S McClellan Street in 1913 by Seattle Braves owner Daniel E. Dugdale (1864-1934). The stadium featured a double-deck grandstand, electric lights, and seating for 10,000. The Seattle Indians began playing there in 1919.

The fire was discovered at 1:00 a.m. on July 5, 1932. In the course of the fire, three homes in the 2700 block of Rainier Avenue S were damaged. The loss was estimated at $75,000, of which $24,000 was covered by insurance. Fire Inspector Frank Harshfield was placed in charge of the investigation into the cause of the fire. His initial opinion was that the fire was accidental in origin. Three years later serial-arsonist Robert Driscoll confessed that it was one of 115 fires he had set.

The move to the Civic Stadium, 5th Avenue N and Harrison Street, required the installation of lights by Seattle City Light.

In 1938, brewer Emil Sick (1894-1964) opened a concrete and steel replacement on the same site. Sicks' Seattle Stadium became the home of the Seattle Rainiers.

Sources:
"Ball Park Fire May Shift Team To Auditorium Field," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, , July 6, 1932, p. 1; "Sicks' Stadium," Metropedia Library, (www.Historylink.org); "Sicks Stadium," Historylink Metropedia Library (www.Historylink.org).

By David Wilma, March 08, 2001

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