On 9/19/24, Seattle Public Schools announced a plan to install at Wallingford Park a full-sized synthetic turf football field intended primarily for student athletic use.
On 11/15/24, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) proposed a modified “half-field” synthetic turf field.
At an 11/20/24 community meeting, SPS did not allow questions and offered few details on the new plan, which still included synthetic turf over much of the open greenspace of Wallingford Park.
From the start, many neighbors were confused about what SPS intended. Many felt the SPS process lacked clarity and transparency. Many long-term residents were frustrated at the apparent lack of understanding of the history and legal status of Wallingford Playfield Park.
We demanded information, communication, accountability. We highlighted the costs to the neighborhood. We spread the word about what was going on.
Thank you, neighbors and community for being involved and taking action!
What’s this about Wallingford Park becoming synthetic athletic turf?
On 11/15/24, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) announced a new plan, a change from the 9/19 plan (below) because of neighborhood push-back. This new plan, this “half-field” option would still take over most of the open expanse of grass at Wallingford Park, and mark it out as an athletic field.
At the SPS presentation on 11/20, SPS confirmed that they are no longer perusing a full-field option at Wallingford park. But SPS and their design firm still want to create a synthetic athletic field at Wallingford park, as shown above.
On 9/19 Seattle Public School (SPS) announced a plan to convert Wallingford Park (43rd & Wallingford) into a full-sized artificially turfed football/soccer field, primarily intended for high school athletic practice and games. SPS was to submit this plan to Seattle Parks & Rec and intended to start bidding and construction in April 2025.
What was the 9/19 plan?
Wallingford Park to be flattened to make room for a full-sized artificial athletic football/soccer field, removing most of the soil and grass
Lincoln High School (LHS) would use the field for daily practice as well as Junior Varsity games, and would share with Hamilton if scheduling permits
Mature trees will be take out and replaced with saplings
SPS says tennis courts will remain.
Field lighting and bleachers would be installed around the field to support night games and JR varsity games
The raised area / knoll would be removed to accommodate the field
Our sources: Seattle Public School’s 9/19 presentation, SPS FAQ, and Seattle Parks and Rec.
Seattle Parks & Rec (SPR) Mission Statement:
“Seattle Parks and Recreation equips employees and the public for well-being as we support healthy people, a thriving environment and vibrant community. We provide safe and accessible spaces for residents and visitors to work, recreate, rejuvenate and enhance quality of life and wellness for children, teenagers, adults and seniors.”
This artificial field would buy convenience for student athletes at the expense of the wellness of children, non-athlete teenagers, low-income families, adults, and seniors. It is inconsistent with Seattle Parks and Recreation mission.
Sound and light pollution. Adding field lighting, games, and practice until park close at 10pm will affect neighbors. (As of 11/15, SPS is saying no field lighting.)
Casual field use will end. The athletic field will need to be scheduled and reserved with Parks & Rec 8am-10pm to be used. Other similar sports fields in Seattle are scheduled by sports teams 90% of the day.This plan would result in lost amenities and access.
Mature trees will be destroyed. Some of the park’s trees are nearly 100 years old. Existing trees will be replaced with saplings, a significant canopy reduction
The plan will not satisfy the need. Lincoln High School has confirmed that even taking over 85% of Wallingford Park would not satisfy their athletic field needs. Let’s find a solution that gives the schools what they need, while preserving Wallingford Park for everyone’s use.
Displaces current users and activities. Frisbee, picnics, pick-up games, pre-schools, after-school camp, dance, tai-chi, other organized sports, and enjoyment of open space.
Talk about the other options for Lincoln High School to build the athletic field the school needs without taking away a beloved public neighborhood park. Here are some Better Options for Lincoln Field.
Click here to email school board: Evan Briggs, School Board District 3 (includes Hamilton International Middle School) and Joe Mizrahi, School Board District 4 (includes Lincoln High School)
Richard Best, Seattle Public School Director of Capital Planning (spoke at LHS presentation 9/19) and Paige McGeHee, Project Manager of the LHS Field Project
We asked Seattle Parks & Recreation this very question. Here is what they wrote back in email, on 9/20/24:
First the school district is doing public engagement to determine if they would like to propose this park change to Seattle Parks and Recreation.
From there Seattle Parks and Recreation will make a decision informed by the school district’s public engagement.
Sincerely,
Samantha Burton (she/her) Communication Admin. Staff Analyst City of Seattle, Seattle Parks and Recreation PKS_Info <PKS_Info@seattle.gov>
Your voice matters.
If this change to Wallingford Park affects you, speak up. Send emails. Tell your neighbors. Print and distribute fliers.
Why preserve Wallingford Park rather than install a full-sized football field?
Here are some of our objections to the proposed artificial turf athletic field:
Displaces current multigenerational neighborhood use. The park is already home to many uses, including picnics, meetings, pickup field games, practice, theater, Frisbee, tai-chi, dance, and more, by people of all ages and backgrounds. The proposed plan narrows usability from a broad demographic to primary use by student athletes.
Loss of green space. The sizing diagrams for this plan show that the artificial turf field will take up 85% of the existing green space — trees, grass, bushes — gone. Our neighborhood must prioritize preserving green space for a population that is only increasing in density. Not everyone has a backyard or a tree. This would remove what greenspace we have.
Environmental impact. Artificial turf is not the same as grass, and has environmental impact. We will see a loss of canopy as significant trees are removed. Young trees require decades to provide shade and habitat for local wildlife.
This park already serves the schools. The schools are already using this park for PE and practice. This proposal gives them nearly exclusive use of a field designed primarily for athletics rather than open and general use.
Plan prioritizes school athletics. This plan gives nearly all the park other than playground and tennis courts over to Varsity Football, Varsity Soccer, and JV games, displacing community use out of proportion to the community’s presence and need.
Restricted hours, with heavy school use. Schools intend to use the athletic field about 11 hours a day (8am-7pm). Other organized sports and the community will only be able to use the field after 7pm, and before the park closes at 10pm. If they can schedule at all, with all the groups who have been displaced looking for that time.
Children will lose essential park activities. This proposal favors the needs of student athletes at the expense of other local children. Children use the park now, beyond merely the playground. Kids like to run, to kick and throw balls, to ride their bikes — and they need a safe space to do so. This plan would eliminate the park for the use of children outside the limited playground area. This includes neighborhood daycare and preschools that rely on the park’s open space.
The community will lose open access, both in time and square footage. Open space for adults and children to play, and enjoyment of greenspace, is appropriate and legitimate use of a park. A toddler walking on grass should not need to schedule time.
Sound and light pollution. We are assured that field lighting won’t spill out into the neighborhood. (Do neighbors in Greenlake want to weigh in on their experience with Woodland Park Playfield?) Even if true, this position discounts park uses like sunset and star-gazing. Sound pollution from games and evening practices will certainly impact neighbors for blocks around.
The Park must be maintained. Could the grassy field be better maintained than it has been these last few years? Yes! We all want that. We ask that Parks & Rec resume maintaining the field properly as it has in times past. But flattening the park – removing grass, trees, and greenspace, then covering it over with plastic – is not the answer.
Community trust and buy-in on process and decision. This plan has rolled out very quickly – so quickly that many people who would be affected by it only learned of it in mid-September, mere days before the community meeting on 9/19 – and couldn’t attend. Worse yet, many neighbors report having been notified about the meeting after it had occurred. Many stakeholders felt unheard and uninvolved. SPS’s decision options, and the process of creating the plan, have felt rushed and hidden. In times past, for such impactful decision, Parks&Rec has involved community and business. We urge SPS to slow this process so it can engage meaningfully with the community in a way that produces both buy-in and trust.
Health risks to cork infill. SPS’s FAQ reads that this plan will “use cork infill to reduce heat gain, as well as other environmentally responsible design elements.” Our children will be exercising on and inhaling the dust from this cork and silicon infill during dry, hot Seattle summers. What is the source of this cork infill? Is it certified pesticide and toxin-free? Is it treated with chemicals prior to use? Find out more about the health risks before saying yes.
“This is a profound health equity issue: the removal of a natural neighborhood free play space exacerbates the growing divide between who has access to enjoy the health benefits of physical activity and who does not and leaves lower income Wallingford families with no access to affordable public play space.”
Wallingford resident on faculty at the University of Washington’s Center for Leadership in Athletics. Former leader of the King County Play Equity Coalition.
