(WSB photo, Lincoln Park’s former tennis-court site)

Another Seattle Parks note: When the plan to convert former tennis courts in Lincoln Park to 6 pickleball courts was quietly announced three and a half weeks ago, the city promised project information online. It’s finally added a page (thanks for the tips) – see it here. The page answers one major question some opponents of the plan have had – where Parks found the money for the court conversion. The $140,000 is attributed to the Associated Recreation Council, an independent nonprofit that has long supported Parks programs. It has its own staff and a volunteer Board of Directors. You can see the ARC’s financial documents here; its annual reports (newest one is from 2021) list hundreds of individual and organizational donors. The pickleball-project page on Parks’ site, meantime, says the plan for a “new” dedicated pickleball facility – which a city study suggests would be at Hiawatha – is “long term,” while this kind of conversion is “mid-term.” Parks says this will be built by the end of the year.

Our photo shows the spot in Lincoln Park where Seattle Parks says it will convert former tennis courts into new pickleball courts, photographed late in the day last Sunday. In the nine days since we last checked in on the controversy, there’ve been a variety of developments.

First, the backstory: We reported in August that Parks planned to add pickleball striping to three of the six tennis courts at nearby Solstice Park during upcoming resurfacing work. After feedback including tennis players’ opposition, Parks changed its mind, announcing – though not widely – that it would keep Solstice tennis-only while creating a pickleball-only site in Lincoln Park.

This did not go over well with the pickleball community, whose leaders say they had no warning the Solstice plans – months in the works – were being reconsidered, nor with a community of Lincoln Park devotees who are worried pickleball will be too noisy and disruptive for wildlife and peace-loving parkgoers. Both of those groups are represented in online petition drives; local wildlife biologist/advocate Kersti Muul started this one voicing opposition to the Lincoln Park pickleball plan (and potential off-leash area), with more than 1,200 signatures as of this morning, while the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association‘s petition, approaching 500 signatures at last check, asks the city to stick to the Solstice-striping plan.

Right now, though, Parks is standing firm. Its decision has been made, and it’s not reopening the discussion, according to what spokesperson Rachel Schulkin told us when we asked. She says the department’s position remains what she wrote in an email response to opponents of pickleball at Lincoln Park, including:

… This is an existing court, and the work is categorically exempt from SEPA [environmental study] requirements as maintenance of an existing facility. A landscape architect has been assigned to the development [of the] Lincoln Park tennis courts, and they have reviewed the site and will be using best management practices to implement courts here.

We plan to offset bringing another active use to Lincoln Park by relocating the SPR grounds storage facility to the crew headquarter location. This will remove trucks, along with their emissions and traffic, driving in and out of this actively used part of Lincoln Park.

We are committed to communicating our plans for pickleball courts in Lincoln Park frequently. While there are no opportunities for public engagement, we can answer any questions you have and share any concerns you may have with Parks and Recreation leadership. In addition, we’ll install a project sign near the site to share project and contact information.

Parks says it expects to complete the grant-funded conversion by “late fall.” Possible lighting is being considered separately; one reader who asked what was being taken into consideration for that was told, “At this point we are assessing the cost, what work would be needed to be done to install lights, and what type of lighting would be most appropriate for this space.”

All the while, the Solstice Park resurfacing hasn’t happened yet: “There isn’t a date set for Solstice resurfacing. We are still awaiting supplies coming in to the contractor, and then will have to plan for a stretch of drier weather.” Pickleball advocates say that project was at one point expected to be complete by the end of summer. The association’s official position:

Seattle Metro Pickleball Association is supportive of SPR’s plan to build dedicated courts for pickleball. We support the Lincoln Park site selected by SPR. We also believe they should put pickleball lines on the Solstice courts. We understand plans can change, but in this case, there was no visibility into the decision-making process, nor was it known that the Solstice plan was even being reconsidered.

Parks has said the Lincoln Park site was at some point considered when the Outdoor Pickleball Study was under development a few years ago, though that plan landed on Hiawatha as a pickleball-only site, and “public engagement” regarding that proposal is still expected.

A week and a half ago, we reported that Seattle Parks had changed its mind about adding pickleball stripes to three of the six tennis courts at Solstice Park. Instead, Parks said, it would create a pickleball-only area at nearby Lincoln Park.

So far that’s not going over well with either pickleball players or wildlife advocates.

First, we asked Parks for more information on the plan and the timing. Spokesperson Rachel Schulkin said the site would be the decommissioned ex-tennis courts in the upper park. “The Lincoln plan creates 6 dedicated courts at this location made from an asphalt overlay, with installation set to conclude at the end of Fall 2023. Next, we will evaluate the feasibility of lights at this location.”

West Seattle wildlife biologist/advocate Kersti Muul says she’s helping organize opposition, and explains:

I am requesting the city provide further information regarding the proposed pickleball courts in Lincoln Park. Including that which reflects poorly on the city; not informing the public or providing opportunity for public comment, and bending to a niche voice. This has resulted in another poor idea from the city as it further marginalizes park wildlife inhabitants and will severely impact how people and wildlife use and enjoy the park. I was consulted on, and have begun the process of opposition based on environmental, public, and mental health concerns.

Lincoln Park needs to remain as natural as possible. It already shares its greenspace with many picnic areas, playgrounds, sports fields, two pools, heavily traversed outer paths and quieter inner [unmaintained] paths and, unfortunately, lots of off-leash dogs. Pickleball courts are loud with sustained and repetitive noise. Saturday I measured decibels at the Highpoint courts and at times it was over 80. They are also bright. Light pollution is detrimental to wildlife as well as public health. I am providing (much like the dog park opposition, and lots of crossover) extensive ecological and biological knowledge as well as an intimate understanding of the complexities of species interactions within the park habitat, with humans, and with each other, and how this type of disruption will impact them. Basically, I am outlining why this is a bad idea. I am encouraging folks to reach out to the city via email, and guiding them on comments. There is a lot of opposition.

You can contact her at kersti.e.muul@gmail.com. Meantime, pickleball advocates/players aren’t thrilled either. They want the city to keep its original commitment of adding stripes to half the courts at Solstice Park. The Seattle Metro Pickleball Association has started an online petition, with this explanation, saying, among other things, it’s an efficient use of the courts:

… West Seattle pickleball players need lighted courts for the short winter days. We play outdoor year round. We squeegee rain, snow, and even hail to clear the courts to play. Tennis is not played at all when the courts are wet. The 6 to-be-resurfaced Solstice tennis courts with new LED lights will be mostly empty for months.

We can only guess what happened. The most likely scenario is that some tennis players were not happy to share three of their six courts with pickleball players and successfully convinced Seattle Parks to reverse course. … The Solstice courts are scheduled to be resurfaced and the work can start any day.

Transparency: Seattle Parks need to explain the decision process that led them to reverse their decision to paint pickleball court lines on three of the six Solstice Parks tennis courts, and to explain why pickleball players were not involved in this process.

Reversal: Seattle Parks need to follow through and deliver the 6 pickleball courts at Solstice Park.

The pickleball group says they had no notice that the city was even thinking about reversing a decision they say was made seven months ago. Their petition is here. The city’s announcement a week ago said that the idea of Lincoln Park had been floated in previous discussions of the city’s Outdoor Pickleball Study, though that ultimately called for a pickleball-only facility at Hiawatha (we don’t yet know how or whether the Lincoln Park plan will affect that).

Last month, thanks to a reader tip, we reported on Seattle Parks‘ plan to add pickleball stripes to three of Solstice Park‘s six tennis courts as part of resurfacing work. That didn’t go over well with tennis players. Now, Parks has changed its mind, sending this update late today (thanks to the readers who forwarded it to us):

We greatly appreciate the robust feedback received about dual striping at the Solstice Park tennis courts.

The department is pleased to announce the creation of a dedicated pickleball court at Lincoln Park, keeping the Solstice Park tennis courts intact as a dedicated tennis site with no dual striping.

In the department’s 2021-2022 Outdoor Pickleball plan, Lincoln Park had been considered for a dedicated pickleball site, but lacked sufficient funding, opening the dual-stripe proposal at Solstice. However, thanks to recent funding allocations, SPR can now create a dedicated pickleball court at Lincoln without alterations to the Solstice courts, which will allow opportunities for tennis and pickleball to occur at their respective sites.

We will make every effort to post updated information about the Lincoln Park pickleball project on this project page so that you may follow the project’s progress.

There’s nothing there yet, though, and no details of a specific location – we’ll ask Parks about that tomorrow.