Seattle Public Schools is seeking a site for a Lincoln High Athletic Field in or near Wallingford. With several zoning changes to accommodate population growth, it seems crucial that community voices are heard regarding the use of public open space and parks.
Seattle Public Schools is trying to identify a site for a new full sized athletic field for practice by the Lincoln High School football team, soccer, and PE classes for both Lincoln and Hamilton and more. This has become an urgent matter as Memorial Stadium, where Lincoln Football both practices and plays games will be demolished and rebuilt soon. Three location options were proposed for this field at a public meeting held September 19th at the Lincoln auditorium. The Wallingford Playfield is a high contender, being located between Lincoln and Hamilton. Meridian Park and Queen Ann Bowl were the other two proposed locations. Seattle Public Schools is asking for public input. You can download video of this meeting and leave comments for Seattle Public Schools at this link: www.seattleschools.org/lincoln-field
At the September 19th meeting this slide was presented as potential fit plans to put a full-sized athletic field at Wallingford Playfield, one oriented to the south side of the park, the second to the north. The top of the graphic is North, the little arrow in the bottom left corner is pointing North. Richard Bass from Seattle Public Schools Projects and Paige McGehee, project manager from Shiels Obletz Johnsen, both spoke at the September meeting. Mr. Bass stated that in the event the field was placed to the north, the playground would be relocated to the south and if needed, the wading pool as well. Seattle Public Schools would have the field scheduled for school hours and after school practices and Seattle Parks and Rec would schedule the field for hours other than that. It is planned that the field would be synthetic turf with a cork fill, not crumb rubber. Precise LED lights would be added that would turn off at 10pm. Several mature trees would have to be removed and replaced 3 for every one tree removed. Parking and traffic mediation were not discussed at the meeting but are mentioned in the FAQ via the SPS portal. The prospect of utilizing Meridian Park and Queen Anne Bowl were less likely, but one would assume that they are still on the table.
This project will be funded by the Building, Technology, academics Athletics Capital levy (BTA V) that passed in 2022, which is funded by property taxes. These funds cannot be transferred to the operations budget, which is currently facing a significant deficit. Other options suggested at the meeting were a field west of the parking lot at Gas Works Park, and a lid over the parking lot north of Lincoln on school property. One community member present at the September meeting said that the prospect of and funding for a lid over the parking lot had been part of the discussion as Lincoln was being redeveloped. Lincoln reopened in 2019 without a public plan for an athletic field. Assurances were made by Bass and McGehee that at this point no proposal was final.
There are many things to consider, both pro and con. As our city becomes more densely populated, we will need open/park space to keep up with Comp Plan requirements and to support the mental health of those living here. How should the use of public land be determined? Now is the time to express your view to Seattle Public Schools, Seattle Parks and Recreation, elected representatives and beyond. This project needs to move quickly, so time is of the essence for your comments.
Share your thoughts with the Seattle Public Schools at this link www.seattleschools.org/lincoln-field.
A second public meeting will be held in October, that date is yet to be announced.
Contact Seattle Parks and Recreation:
email: [email protected]
Council Representatives:
Maritza Riviera, District 4 Rep. [email protected]
Sara Nelson at Large [email protected]
Tanya Woo at Large [email protected]
Online petition from Facebook:https://www.ipetitions.com/petition/save-wallingford-playfield-no-turf?fbclid=IwY2xjawFlaidleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHQPOewowdgMGdZvzA5U2qtTiFCxHaUJV3V7hEVE1-qXw7hSG43c2q4kC_w_aem_1Tao21EqXGUrJKMhczkOow#comments
Are there other petitions? Send them to [email protected]
Contact the Seattle Times:
Letters not to exceed 200 words, must include full name, address and telephone numbers for verification. Email [email protected]
Columnist Danny Westneat [email protected]
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It should be noted that locating the field at Wallingford Playfield would wipe out nearly all of the work that has been done by the community over the last 25 years, as well as at least six mature, likely Exceptional if not Heritage, trees dating from prior to 1936.
The community pressed the District to locate an athletic field on the North Parking lot at Lincoln without success. The field would be slightly narrower than a full width professional football field, similar to the field at Roosevelt. Soccer fields have more flexible dimensions, so not a problem.
Another option suggested is a new field at the unused gravel lot at 50th and Aurora in Lower Woodland Park, where lights are not an issue and there would be room for seating. Neither the WP site nor the Lincoln site would have much room for seating as they would be practice fields.
Please support Lincoln having an athletic field at either the North Parking area of Lincoln or the unused area of Lower Woodland.
And ask that Parks also return to maintaining the grass playfield at Wallingford Playfield, which has suffered from maintenance neglect ever since Hamilton and Lincoln opened nearly 15 years ago. It used to be in great shape!
It would be great to have a field for sporting events at Wallingford Playfield. More people will use the open space in more ways, and the games for Lincoln, Hamilton, and other sports clubs will be a wonderful way to bring our community together in the heart of our neighborhood. Better lighting and new restrooms will be a welcome improvement, especially during the darker months. And simpler logistics for the students are also important – more time to play and less time shuttling around the city and adding to congestion and emissions. This solution also sounds more economical than some of the alternatives being discussed which is (sadly) relevant in this era of budget deficits.
Hi forty, I agree it would be great to increase access to open space in Wallingford. Unfortunately, placing a sports field at Wallingford Playfield simply displaces multiple informal uses for a new organized sports use. It seems far better to spend the money to increase Parks' inventory of open space recreational opportunity by creating a new all-weather field at the Lincoln site for Hamilton and Lincoln to use in the winter and make available for other user groups to use when the District use is satisfied. After all, we were promised an INCREASE in amenities for the neighborhood when we were declared an Urban Village and were also upzoned for even more density. Folks need open space!
Current informal, drop-in use by a multitude of users is still a use. It makes no sense to throw away over a million dollars of prior improvements at the park to spend even more money to make a sports field that is not of use to many of the current users of the park – families with kids, daycares, seniors, Frisbee, playground users, wading pool users, picnics, just lounging and reading a book in the sun. All would be bumped under the District plan. That would be a shame, especially seeing as how the cost would be the same, or less, to site the field at Lincoln, which is already flat and level!
Hi Greg – I would love to increase the size of the open space pie. It sounds like you believe that building a lid structure on top of the Lincoln parking lot would be cheaper than the proposed SPS/SPR design, is that right? Off the cuff that seems surprising but would love to learn more – do you have an estimate shows what that concept would cost relative to the SPS & SPR proposal?
I agree that informal use is important. I suspect that both formal and informal use of the space will increase with a new field — it gives more users more options and expands the hours when the space is broadly functional.
You mentioned that the new proposed field would not be of use to many of the current users of the park. As another data point for you and others to consider, in our family we have kids, seniors, frisbee players, playground users, wading pool enthusiasts, picnickers, and outdoor book readers and our collective sentiment is that the proposed field would be a big improvement over the status quo where the field has more limited functionality and is underutilized. The SPS fact check is quite clear that the playground and wading pool would not go away under their proposal or be "bumped" as you claim. Sadly the dog won't be happy but public policy is a balancing act between the many needs of both current users and the future users who are being left out of the status quo.
Anyway, you seem passionate about this issue which is great — I appreciate your perspectives.
Thanks, forty. My thought is skip the parking. We live in a dense urban village that has been upzoned for more density, located with on frequent transit. The kids should be taking the bus and staff should carpool or do transit if they don’t wish to hassle with street parking. I would love to see more open space opportunity in the neighborhood.
Parks stopped maintaining the field shortly after Hamilton and Lincoln reopened. Being able to close the grass field in winter again because we have an all-weather field at Lincoln would be most excellent.
As far as the School District “promises”, I would not trust them. They have repeatedly lied to the neighborhood. The Facilities dude for the Hamilton remodel was dismissed under the cloud of an ethics investigation by the City and for lying to the School Board. Perhaps the new folks are more honorable, but fool me once, and all that. The field at the Park would wipe out over a million dollars of prior work, which I simply do not agree with. Build new resources rather than ripping out existing. I do feel strongly that adding inventory is better than just replacing something that is already serving the population.
My two cents, for what it’s worth. Cheers!
One option to explore. Turn the field 90 degrees. Make it North to South and have it on the left (West) side of the park. Leaving green space and the current facilities on the right alone.
It would likely require removing the amphitheater section at Hamilton Schools at the south end, but it should work?
It would be worth exploring at a minimum.
The west end of the field can accommodate an 80 yd by 50 yd soccer field which is how it is currently laid out. A football field is 120 yds plus a minimum of about 5 yds safety runouts beyond each end zone – which FILLS the entire park from the path at the tennis courts to the path at the west fence. It is HUGE!
The north parking lot at Lincoln is over 151 yds long and can accommodate a full length football field. It would need to be slightly narrower than the full-size 160 feet (not yards), just like the field at Roosevelt High School.
Lower Woodland could accommodate a full width field, but is less convenient.
The Seattle Schools trial layouts of a regulation football field are misleading because they have not included the slope necessary between the flat field and the surrounding park. For both the north and south options there are adjoining areas to the field that are at significantly higher elevation. If the slope is to eat into the surrounding area then a considerable amount of the surrounding area will be given up to the slope up to that elevation. Surely they would not use a retaining wall with its steep drop off – too dangerous. Who would want an out-of-bounds pass catcher to unexpectedly slam into a cement block wall? The slope area will significantly eat into the children's play area or other adjoining activities.
There are many in the community who are opposed to sacrificing Wallingford Park in favor of a space almost completely taken over to artificial turf and school athletics. We're organizing to oppose this plan and encourage the schools to find an alternative to stealing this park. There's information and tools available at https://wallingfordparkalliance.org/
Is there going to be guarantees on the schools being around for at least a few decades? At this moment, can we even be sure the school would not be closed by the time this is done?
Tear down Bartells and put it there.
I think it would be a pity to plant an athletic field on top of the current Wallingford playfield park area. It will destroy the opportunities for children to play and folks to picnic, wander, etc. It will also choke the nearby streets during athletic contests. Aren't the nearby streets full enough already? Already, there are places for the Lincoln HS teams to go play their contests. Why wreck a pleasant community resource?