January 5, 2001

Bumbershoot, Seattle Storm come to terms

SEATTLE (AP) -- The city's most popular music festival has come to terms with the Seattle Storm women's basketball team over who gets to use KeyArena on Labor Day weekend.

The team was worried that if it makes the WNBA finals, it wouldn't be able to play games at its home court because Bumbershoot, Seattle's four-day Labor Day arts and music festival, needs the space.

Under a two-year agreement approved by City Council on Tuesday, the Storm will get KeyArena on the Thursdays before Labor Day. Bumbershoot will get it on the Fridays and Saturdays. On Sundays, the Storm will be allowed to play games at 11 a.m., and Bumbershoot will be able to use it for concerts at 8 p.m.

One Reel, which organizes Bumbershoot, was especially worried about losing the arena this fall because three of the festival's biggest venues -- Mercer Arena, the Exhibition Hall and the Seattle Opera House -- will be undergoing renovation.

"Bumbershoot is a longtime tradition in Seattle, and it shouldn't be pushed out. We asked the WNBA to work with us and they did," said Councilman Nick Licata, whose staff helped arrange the compromise.

Last spring, One Reel rejected a plan that would have given each organization use of the arena for two days.

The issue might be a moot point. In its inaugural season, the Storm had the league's worst record, 6-26.

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