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Editor’s note: There was a public meeting held on November 6th by Seattle Public Schools to update the community on proposed designs for a Lincoln High School athletic field at Lower Woodland Park. Friends of Lower Woodland Park has submitted to Wallyhood the following information proposing a new option for consideration. All opinions are those of the authors.

Seattle Public Schools (SPS) has proposed two alternative designs for placing a full-sized athletic field for Lincoln High School at Lower Woodland Park: Option A and Option B. While SPS presented these options as mutually exclusive, Friends of Lower Woodland Park proposes Option C, a cost-effective combination that incorporates the best elements of both. Option C ensures Lincoln High School gains a new, safe facility capable of hosting games, complete with a grandstand. It also preserves historic trees lining the Green Lake Way pedestrian path and maintains safe, legal access for all park users, including those with children and dogs. There are two parts to the Option C plan.

Option C Part 1: Soccer Field at Aurora and 50th

Option C proposes a smaller, soccer-only field on the existing gravel lot near Aurora Avenue N and N 50th Street. This low-impact design occupies roughly half the footprint of the high-impact SPS Option B, which included a larger football/soccer hybrid field, a new 38-space parking lot, and a grandstand. Here is what Option C would look like at that location:

Option C and Option B site boundaries are overlaid below, showing how Option C shrinks the much larger impacted area of the SPS Option B plan. The Option B boundary requires rerouting the picnic driving loop and removes some parking there, requires extensive earthwork, and requires removing 78 trees. The Option C plan requires removing only about ten trees, has much less earthwork required, and has no pavement impacts other than rebuilding the curb where the driving entrance to the gravel lot is removed:

Option C has dramatically reduced costs and impacts in comparison with Option B, while also revitalizing that area of the park:

1. No parking lot added, no expensive pavement changes: The existing paved picnic parking loop already provides 170 parking spaces. This parking is rarely used to capacity, and it is unclear why SPS proposed adding a 38-space adjacent parking lot. Eliminating the proposed new lot in Option C will preserve the picnic loop and prevent the unnecessary demolition of paved space and creation of new paved space. Additionally, the sidewalk curb along N 50th Street can be fixed for pedestrian use only, because driving access to the gravel lot will be removed, improving safety.
2. Need for activation and rehabilitation: The gravel lot has been used as a staging area for major construction projects, and there are currently several RVs in both the gravel lot and the picnic loop. The area needs activation and redevelopment so it can be utilized as park space. Nearby neighbors will welcome the changes. Furthermore, the existing trees along the N 50th Street sidewalk—which shield the space and are removed in the SPS Option B plan—will be retained and can be rehabilitated.
3. Greatly reduced tree impacts: A preliminary site survey indicates that only about ten trees will need to be removed for the reduced footprint of Option C, including four or five large trees over 24” in diameter. Several of the trees in the gravel lot have been damaged by construction equipment and encampments over the years, so the trees there are very unlike the historic trees alongside the Green Lake walking path that SPS Option A proposes to remove. As parking and encampments are removed, the project can include rehabilitating and taking care of the remaining trees.
4. Less earthwork and related costs: Because the field will fit almost entirely on the existing gravel lot, and because it avoids requiring driving access from the street, this plan should greatly reduce earthwork costs. No leveling for driver access is needed, and very little sloped park area is impacted, reducing complexity and expense. There is also room for the storage of field materials to be added without impacting trees.

Option C Part 2: Football/Soccer Hybrid Field at 52nd and Green Lake Way

Option C proposes converting the existing Lower Woodland Park Soccer Field #2 into a football/soccer hybrid field and adding a grandstand. This requires lengthening the field by approximately 20 feet, which can be achieved without destroying trees or regrading the area near the parking lot. Here is what Option C would look like, including a grandstand on the south side of the field:

Option C and Option A site boundaries are overlaid below. The SPS Option A design unsafely pushes the boundaries of the two new fields up against the baseball diamond, skate park, bike jumps, and gravel pathway. That design also removes historic trees that line the field near the parking lot, requiring regrading in that location, as well as retaining walls. Option C has no negative impacts on the surrounding area and requires no demolition of fences, lighting, cement paths, walking paths, or other features:

All that Option C requires is extending the astroturf 20 feet, adding storage, re-striping the field for football/soccer hybrid use, and adding field goals. However, we recommend adding a grandstand for spectators and so Lincoln can host games. Consider these advantages to Option C:

1. Safety buffers around the field prevent conflicts: The double-field Option A design reduces all sideline buffers to the legal minimum, which is tighter than buffers used on other recently built Seattle Parks fields. This is critically unsafe at this location, where all four sides of the field border distinct and potentially conflicting activities: a parking lot, mountain bike jumps, a skate park, and the baseball diamond fence. Option C safely spaces out all park users, preventing conflicts between spectators, players, pedestrians, and users of the nearby skate park and bike jumps.
2. No tree or path removal, no added retaining walls: All trees that line the historic walking path are retained and no regrading of that area or addition of retaining walls is required. Popular gravel paths will remain that connect the park, bike jumps and skate park to the renovated bathroom and Green Lake Way North crossing at 52nd Street. People with dogs will be able to walk to the off-leash area without crossing the astroturf fields with their dogs, which is illegal, but was said to be by design at the November meeting where Option A was presented.
3. No costly removal of recently installed lighting, fences, concrete, and astroturf: Expensive metal lighting poles around the field and concrete paths near the skate park can stay put as the field will have the same border with the skate park that the current field does. The astroturf of the existing field has more than half its lifespan remaining and could be preserved and restriped. Protective fencing near the parking lot can also stay. Minimizing demolition minimizes costs and also the embodied carbon of the project.
4. A grandstand can be added for seating and games: Option C has room to add a grandstand so that Lincoln can host football or soccer games with other schools. The grandstand will have beautiful views towards the lake, is next to the bathrooms, is spaced away from the skate park, and points north to avoid sun in the eyes of spectators. Additionally, sideline space is expanded by 20 feet compared to SPS Option A, and the loop path and buffer around the field is maintained, so crowds should not be a problem. Meanwhile, Option A has no seating and eliminates walking paths, as there is no legal space for fixed objects or paths around the fields.

We believe that Option C is best for public safety, Lincoln High School students, nearby neighbors, and all people who use the park than either Option A or Option B. Far less will be destroyed, there will be far fewer negative impacts, and fewer conflicts between park users will occur. Activation in the park will be distributed to avoid congestion and there will be enhanced amenities for park users, neighbors, and Lincoln students. With this design we believe that Lincoln field construction can move forward quickly.

FAQs

Why are you so late to the process? 

We understand the frustration, and we share it. Public attention was focused heavily on the separate Wallingford Playfield debate for the first year of the process, which caused many people outside of that area to tune out. The process pivoted to Lower Woodland Park last summer, but the initial focus on the track loop near the pitch-and-putt was largely non-controversial.

Up until the November meeting, outreach on playfield design was directed only to organized groups (e.g., mountain bikers and Lincoln families). Park users not affiliated with these groups were not notified or invited into the conversation. The first public communication was sent out for the November meeting, where the project team indicated that only a single option was under consideration. We are joining now not to pointlessly delay the project, but to contribute constructively.

This field addition isn’t necessary / what about Wallingford Playfield / what about the Horseshoe pits and Bocce area?

We are trying to figure out a good design given the parameters SPS is working with, which include adding a football/soccer hybrid field, and having all money spent on changes that are within walking distance of Lincoln. We are hoping our Option C proposal will redirect the energy behind Lincoln Playfield in a positive direction.

We recognize the importance of the wider debate (e.g., funding priorities for new football facilities or the possibility of a half-field at Wallingford Playfield). However, engaging in those issues is likely to further divide the community. The alternative location of the Bocce/Horseshoe pits area makes sense on many levels, but SPS has a mandate to only spend money on facilities that are walking distance from Lincoln, and the area was not studied by SPS so moving in that direction could delay progress.

The worst thing here would be a divisive fight that ends in a terrible design, which is what more than 100 neighborhood residents so far believe the SPS proposed Option A plan is. We are trying to move the process forward in a positive direction.

Addressing the NIMBY Label

We were not involved in the debates regarding Lincoln at Wallingford Playfield, or in the comprehensive plan upzone debates. We fully support Lincoln High School’s use of Lower Woodland Park; we simply want a responsible, long-term design that works for everyone. We recognize that people are polarized after the Wallingford Playfield debate and the long project timeline. We believe the high-impact SPS Option A plan is a mistake, but our goal is constructive: finding a win-win solution for students and all park users that can move forward quickly.

Show your support!

If you are in support of pursuing Option C, please sign the petition. If you have questions or feedback on the draft plan, please email [email protected].