LINCOLN PARK PICKLEBALL? Seattle Parks says it’s ‘pausing project construction for two weeks’

A new development late today in the city’s plan to set up six pickleball courts on what used to be tennis courts in Lincoln Park. Previously, Seattle City Councilmember Lisa Herbold had asked Seattle Parks Superintendent AP Diaz last Friday to host a community meeting about the plan, which has drawn opposition from people worried the noise will harm birds and. other wildlife. Early this afternoon, Councilmember Herbold told us she had not yet heard back from Diaz. Then late this afternoon, Parks sent an email to people who had contacted the department about the plan – sent to both supporters and opponents, judging by those who received it and forwarded it to us. Here’s what it says:

Dear community members,

Over the past few weeks, we have heard from many community members about resurfacing the court in Lincoln Park to enable pickleball play. Some comments expressed concern about noise, lack of a State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) analysis, assertions of tree removal and disruption to wildlife, while other comments expressed support for the project and excitement for adding more recreational opportunities in West Seattle.

Please be assured that Seattle Parks and Recreation (SPR) is working hard to cultivate a park system that balances our varying points of view, which includes our mission to build healthy people, a thriving environment and vibrant community throughout the entire Seattle city park system.

At this time, we can respond to some of these concerns:

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–SPR reiterates there is no tree removal being done to support this project. Consistent with other court resurfacing projects, SPR is not conducting a SEPA analysis as the existing court is being repurposed with already defined recreational uses.

–SPR will not pursue lighting at this time.

–We will be pausing project construction for two weeks to talk with experts on Seattle’s bird populations on how we can properly study the potential impact pickleball noise may have on wildlife. We welcome this dialogue and will share our plans more widely after that discussion as we strive to find a collective and beneficial approach to the stewardship and management of our parkland.

Thank you for your commitments to our park system. We invite you to visit our website to learn more about this project:
https://www.seattle.gov/parks/about-us/projects/lincoln-park-tennis-court-conversion.

We also noticed earlier this afternoon that the Parks webpage had been updated, timestamped yesterday, with the schematic plan shown above, mapping the planned courts’ location in the park and the route construction trucks would take to get there.

BACKSTORY: We’ve been reporting on all this since August, when a reader tipped us that the then-imminent (currently on hold until next year) resurfacing of Solstice Park‘s tennis courts would include restriping three for pickleball. Parks then announced a change of plan in September, dropping the Solstice restriping plan and pursuing the Lincoln Park plan. Wildlife advocates subsequently launched a petition drive and opposition campaign. Parks, meantime, launched work at the site more than a week ago, putting up signage and fencing, but with today’s announcement, that’s apparently on hold.