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Help Requested to Support Marymoor Park Phase 2 Development
Submitted by walax on Tue, 2006-10-10 19:04.
This message was sent to us from the 'Friends of Athletic Fields and many other field lovers'. We hope that you'll take the time to read this article and contact the local council. With the continued field issues that we all face each season it's important to support any project that creates more field space for sports.
We are at a pivotal point in the campaign to get a new, magnificent Magnuson Park for our community and our city. We need to make sure that City Council members know that there is strong, widespread support for the current plan to rebuild Magnuson. These plans now include two new, full-size, synthetic multi-use rectangular fields, a rugby field, and two baseball diamonds, along with many acres of new and improved wetlands, wildlife habitat, and associated trail system.
In brief, here are the key points we need to convey to Council (for more detailed info, read the bottom of this article):
I support the construction of Magnuson Park as soon as possible. City Council approved the project in June of 2004. Design and planning has been done. The money to do the project is in place. No more delays waiting for someone’s wish list to get funded. Approve the design plans submitted by the Seattle Parks Department so construction can begin!
I support the addition of Field Five, a second rectangular field, to the project. This fourth lit field was approved by City Council (Clerk File #306574). It has enough money to be completed from private, community funds ($200,000); a King County Youth Sports Facilities grant ($50,000); and surplus Pro Park funds ($880,000) that were dedicated for athletic fields use in the levy. Wetland mitigation has been included for all these fields in the permit application. Field Five is badly needed by ALL field users in Northeast Seattle and beyond. Don’t take money away from this project!
Field users need more fields to practice and play on. The number of recreational athletes continues to increase year after year for both youth and adult leagues and for both established and up-and-coming sports. Teams are struggling to find enough field space. The new fields at MagnusonPark will have an immediate, positive impact on the health and well being of hundreds if not thousands of children and adults in the community. Please give full support to getting Magnuson Park Phase 2 approved.
Here is the contact information for City Council members. Please email all of them about this issue, but especially contact David Della, the chair of the Parks, Education, Libraries, and Labor committee. Use your own words, experiences, and comments when possible. We’d like to see a steady stream of emails over at least the next two weeks as Council works through the budget process.
Calls are a great way to make an impact, too. You can talk to one of the councilmember’s aides about the issue. They are happy to take your comments. Please be civil and polite when calling. This is just playing fields, after all….
SeattleCity Council Members, 2006
Sally Clark [email protected] (206) 684-8802
Richard Conlin [email protected] (206)684-8805
David Della [email protected] (206)684-8806
CM Della is the Parks Committee chair
Jan Drago [email protected] (206)684-8801
Jean Godden [email protected] (206)684-8807
Nick Licata [email protected] (206)684-8803
Richard McIver [email protected] (206)684-8800
Tom Rasmussen [email protected] (206)684-8808
Peter Steinbrueck [email protected] (206)684-8804
Seattle City Council Mailing Address
Office: 684-8888 Fax: 684-8587
Or Participate in the budget hearing.
Seattle City Council Budget Hearing, Wed Oct 11th, 5:30pm (call-ins at 4:30pm), Council Chambers. The comments on the proposed budget scheduled for 5:55pm.
More Information
Magnuson Park - Phase 2 & Field Five
A description of the history of the Magnuson Park renovation planning can be found on the Parks website (Warren G. Magnuson Park - Sports Fields) and on the SYSA web site (http://sysa.bonzidev.com/home.php?layout=1035).
The concept and design for Magnuson Park has gone through extensive planning and review over the past decade. Pro Parks funding for the current Athletic Fields and Wetlands Project was originally approved by Seattle citizens in 2000. Eleven lit athletic fields (5 rectangular/soccer, 5 baseball/softball, and 1 rugby) were originally planned for and approved in the Environmental Impact Statement (2002-03). Seattle City Council approved the Magnuson Master Plan (Ordinance 121502) in June 2004 after much public debate and ended up reducing the number of fields to 9 total fields with 7 allowed to be lit 6 days/week until 10pm. In a subsequent ruling on the increased light pole height (April 2005), Council placed further restrictions on the athletic fields project by requiring that construction be phased in order to assess potential impacts before constructing the entire project and to limit the initial number of lit fields (Clerk File 306574).
Phase 1 of the Magnuson Park work was the renovation of the Sports Meadow, the large grassy area in the northwest section of the park. This work was completed in 2006 and the area will be open for play in spring of 2007.
Phase 2 was originally planned to comprise five athletic fields with four to be lit as approved by Council. During the planning process, the design team found there was only enough money for four fields and only three of those four were planned to be lit. The four fields planned at that time included a soccer, a rugby, a softball, and a baseball field. All but the baseball field were designed with lights.
Because the fourth lit field was permitted by Council, a capital campaign was begun by SYSA and LVR to find funds for the additional fifth field. The campaign was called Field Five at Magnuson Park. To date the campaign has been successful in raising $250,000. The LVR board, realizing the value of an additional soccer field to the children in their program, has pledged $100,000 of the clubs accumulated field funds. They also personally pledged nearly $40,000 of their own money. In addition, SYSA pledged $50,000 and Emerald City FC pledged $10,000. Finally, the campaign applied for and received a King County Youth Sports Facilities grant of $50,000.
Even with these dedicated funds, the campaign was still only one-quarter of the way to the projected cost of over $1 million for a full-size, synthetic, lit soccer field. In late September 2006, good fortune came about in the allocation of $880,000 of surplus Pro Parks levy funds. The Pro Parks levy allocated money based on type of project (athletic fields, green space, and so on) with the funds dedicated for those categories. Since Magnuson Park is the last athletic field project left to do on the list of levy field projects, the money really had no other place to be spent. And given inflation and rising construction costs, the Pro Parks Levy Oversight Committee therefore voted 7-2 on September 25th to allocate $883,000 of surplus levy money to Magnuson athletic fields. In all likelihood, this money will go to Field Five, as it should. Recall that the original design for Phase 2 was going to include five fields; only a shortage of funds culled those to four.
So now the fifth field at Magnuson Park is essentially funded. However, politics being what they are in Seattle, there never seems to be anything like a done deal. The Field Five campaign is concerned that opponents of playfields at Magnuson will do all they can to either delay the project once again, or petition the Council to take away the surplus athletic field funds to do other improvements during Phase 2. Field supporters should be aware that even though some of the other proposed improvements are valid and useful, these potential additions are currently unfunded and should not hold up the Magnuson Project from going forward.
Finally, there was something called a “budget proviso” that Council attached to the funding for Phase 2. This proviso requested that Parks present information to the Council before the Pro Parks funds would be released for the project. Infighting between Parks and the Council has delayed Council approval. This he said/she said scenario has delayed construction and the result is that field users will need to go longer without the fields and park that they deserve. With the new budget presented in October of 2006, that budget proviso should go away. But the City Council needs to hear loud and clear that there are hundreds and thousands of us who are watching their actions and will hold them accountable on this issue.
The bottom line is that the money for a great new and improved park at Magnuson is approved and in place. The planning and design are complete and permitting is nearly so. The need for fields and a great new wetland/habitat park is critical. What is stopping our leaders from getting this park built?!? Please contact the City Council and tell them you want Magnuson Park to move forward. No delays. Get it built now!