CONTRIBUTOR

Ending months of speculation and community controversy, Seattle Parks and Recreation Superintendent Ken Bounds announced his approval of the Loyal Heights Playfield Improvement plan last Friday, a plan that is intended to add to the playfield's usability. Bounds' decision is in accordance with that of the Seattle Parks Board, which voted 3-1 in favor of the plan last month.

Most notable among the plan's changes is the installation of FieldTurf, a synthetic turf currently used in Husky Stadium and Qwest Field, to replace the existing grass field next to the Loyal Heights Community Center.

"I am convinced that this decision serves the greater good of Seattle park users," said Bounds in a press release detailing his conclusion. "The primary use of the playfield has been and will continue to be for sports."

In recent months, Ballard neighbors have found themselves sharply divided regarding the park's future during a number of meetings held with Seattle Parks officials. Many community members, including representatives of local sports organizations, have supported the changes and argued that the renovations would improve the field's quality.

"It's a great day for the kids of Ballard, current and future generations," said Harry Hoffman, president of Seattle Youth Soccer Association (SYSA). "In an ideal world, it would all be grass parks, but we live in Seattle, not Southern California."

At the community meetings, supporters of the plan said that the new field would allow for year-round athletic usage. Currently, the field is closed from late November to March. Bounds estimates that the synthetic turf will result in an additional 464 hours of winter sports usage.

"It's more available fields for more kids," said Hoffman.

Supporters also argued that the field would help to reduce game cancellations caused by rain. According to Bounds, Ballard Little League presently loses one-third of its scheduled field time to Seattle rain.

Other community members strongly opposed the turf's installation and expressed concerns that the elimination of grass would yield negative impacts on the community.

"I'm very disappointed," said Jim Anderson, a member of Neighbors for Natural Spaces (NNS), a Ballard community group created during the Loyal Heights Playfield controversy who opposes the turf's installation. "It's the wrong project for the wrong park. It's no longer a place for neighbors."

Anderson, who operates www.noplasticgrass.com, said that NNS wanted to maintain the historically unique mixed use of the playfield and was looking to compromise on the issue by promoting a partial synthetic turf and natural grass combination field.

"I thought we had a chance because of our compromise, but they resisted any chance to compromise all along", he said. "They were in the driver's seat and never got out.

"It's clear that [Seattle] Parks feels that the sports organizations are their natural constituents, but that's wrong," said Anderson. "We [the Ballard community] have been good hosts, but it doesn't seem to matter."

"I appreciate the neighbors' concerns," said Hoffman. "But we felt they reached fairly far in their arguments." SYSA serves 12,000 kids, according to Hoffman, and he said no SYSA family contacted him to express their disapproval of his organization's endorsement of the park changes.

"I personally am thrilled for the Ballard community," said Kelly Jones, president of Ballard Little League. "I don't think that having a non-grass park or field is going to change the dynamics of the neighborhood."

Jones said that the existing field is the primary field for her organization's junior and senior leagues. Presently, the playfield contains two baseball diamonds, but the synthetic turf's installation will provide for an additional overlapping soccer field and football field.

Other changes included in the plan are new fences and upgraded restroom facilities. Existing lights will be upgraded at the time of renovation in order to reduce glare, but no new lights will be added.

Parking and traffic is also an issue of contention. While supporters are quick to point out that there will be no additional traffic on any given day as the park's capacity for daily usage will remain the same, its year-round availability will mean traffic should now be consistent throughout winter as well.

"Basically, it's going to be a sports-complex city," said Anderson, who lives across the street from the park.

Community members were encouraged to express their opinions with Seattle Parks through correspondence.

Anderson said, at the last community meeting, a member of the Seattle Parks Board mentioned that they had received more communication on this issue than on any other issue in the past. David Takami, a spokesperson for Seattle Parks, said correspondence was high, but not unusually so.

"I guess the one good thing to come out of this was that it brought the community together," said Anderson. "I finally met neighbors whom I've lived next to for years."

Funding for the $2.3 million plan will be provided by the Pro Parks Levy, which Seattle voters approved in 2000.

Takami said that maintenance of the synthetic turf will cost much less than what is currently spent on the upkeep of the existing grass.

Construction is currently slated to begin in July 2006 and is planned for last until November. For more information on the forthcoming changes, visit the project's

Web site at http://www.seattle.gov/parks/proparks/projects/loyalheightsplayfield.htm.

Nate Robinson is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.