SPS proposal for turf sports field in Wallingford park stirs debate

Seattle Public Schools is hoping to build a sports practice field in a neighborhood park — and the possibility is provoking debate.

The synthetic turf field at Wallingford Playfield would serve Lincoln High School and Hamilton Middle School, which have no fields of their own today. Yet some neighbors say the project would change their local park too much.

It’s a case of competing needs and perspectives in a growing part of Seattle.

SPS has been considering multiple potential sites for the project but says Wallingford Playfield is ideal because it’s located next to Hamilton and kitty-corner from Lincoln, which reopened in 2019 after being closed for decades. The 4.5-acre park includes a large grass expanse, plus trees, a playground, a wading pool, tennis courts and public restrooms.

SPS initially proposed a full-size football and soccer field with lights, covering most of the park, but recently scaled back in response to opposition from some neighbors and is now proposing a half-size field without lights. In that case, SPS says it could subsequently work up to a full-size field for Lincoln at Woodland Park, a half mile away. SPS also wants to upgrade a Woodland Park running track for Lincoln’s use.

The city hasn’t taken a stance yet, according to Seattle Parks and Recreation.

SPS is holding a community meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Hamilton.

Lincoln and Hamilton together enroll more than 2,500 students and already sometimes use Wallingford Playfield for PE classes.

Lincoln is the only public high school in Seattle without its own athletic field. Its varsity football and soccer teams currently practice and play at Seattle Center’s Memorial Stadium. Its junior varsity teams use existing sports fields at Woodland Park. Its track teams bus to Ingraham High School’s stadium.

A property tax levy approved by voters in 2022 for SPS capital projects promised a new athletic field for Lincoln, among other things.

More than 700 people have signed an online petition to support the original SPS proposal for a full-size sports field at Wallingford Playfield.

Supporters say the project would provide students with safe, easy access to a practice space before and after school. They say the new synthetic field would be better for sports than the existing grass, which can get muddy, and would be open to everyone when not being used by students.

The playground, wading pool and tennis courts would be retained where they are now or shifted within the park, SPS has said.

“Updated and well-maintained parks and amenities benefit everyone in the community,” one petition signer wrote, calling the project a “win-win.”

“Lincoln is the biggest public high school now in Seattle,” added Tim Randall, a Parent Teacher Student Association board member with a child who plays soccer at Lincoln, describing the need for a nearby field partly as a matter of supply and demand.

Meanwhile, more than 900 people have signed an online petition to oppose the SPS proposal. A group called the Wallingford Park Alliance says the project would replace grass with plastic, reduce opportunities for activities like picnics and prioritize student-athletes over other park users.

“Our neighborhood must prioritize preserving green space for a population that is only increasing in density,” the group’s website says.

The alliance is working with land-use attorney Rick Aramburu, who sent a letter to the city on Nov. 15 calling the SPS proposal “improper and illegal.”

The park was created 100 years ago as a play area for “small children”; was expanded in 1970 as “open space”; and is protected by a 1997 city law that says parks must be preserved for park use, Aramburu wrote. In a 2017 environmental review of Lincoln’s renovation, SPS said Wallingford Playfield would not be used for the school’s sports programs, the attorney added.

Philippa Webster, a neighbor whose children grew up using Wallingford Playfield, said SPS is pitting the community against itself. Julie McCleery, a neighbor who researches sports and play equity at the University of Washington, said the park is most needed as a place for unstructured recreation.

No decisions have been made at this point and no project can move ahead at Wallingford Playfield without approval from Seattle Parks, Tina Riss Christiansen, a spokesperson for SPS, wrote in an email Monday.

While the location of Wallingford Playfield is best for SPS, “we are aware of community opposition as well as community support,” she added.