Seattle Metro Pickleball Association

A Slap In the Face

JUN 17, 2021 — 

Here is Seattle Parks’ most recent answer to our requests.

Not surprisingly, this most recent reply still does not directly address any of our requests. Instead, it calls them suggestions.  And it proposes that some Park employee without the power to make any significant decision can coordinate with other staff to see if they can work something out. We know better.  

It does not address the fact that Seattle Parks chose the most undesirable tennis courts to make them available to pickleball players. 

It does not answer how Seattle Parks measured “high-demand” areas for pickleball in Southeast Seattle and managed to exclude Jefferson and Rainier from the results.

It suggests that we raise funds to donate more semi-permanent outdoor pickleball nets until Seattle Parks has enough nets for every painted pickleball court.

It mentions that Seattle Parks now has a “citywide pickleball planning committee”, but it fails to mention if this committee contains any representatives of the pickleball community. It certainly does not have any representative from the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association, or any of the Southeast Seattle pickleball players who sent this petition to the Superintendent. We suspect it is made exclusively of Parks employees, some of which work for the Amy Yee tennis center.

Finally, it mentions that Seattle Parks’ staff plan to meet with the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association (SMPA) board members at least quarterly. Is this supposed to be some sort of substitute for the meeting we, Southeast Seattle pickleball players, asked to have with the Superintendent?

As one of the recipients of this email said: “this is what a slap in the face feels like”.

You can read the full email from Seattle Parks below.

Next: Episode 7: Greetings Mayor Durkan

Did you know that (as of Spring 2021) there are no official public outdoor pickleball court lines anywhere in Southeast Seattle. None in Beacon Hill, Brighton, Columbia City, Dunlap, Genesee, Hillman City, Lakeridge, Lakewood, Seward Park, Mount Baker, New Holly, North Beacon Hill (both 2 & 3), Othello, Rainier Beach, Rainier Valley, Rainier View, Rainier Vista, or South Beacon Hill. That is, no outdoor pickleball court lines south of Capitol Hill and East of I-5.

We are not even talking about pickleball courts here. We are just talking about painted lines.

In this pickleball desert, some local residents thirsty for some outdoor pickleball have taken it upon themselves to paint pickleball court lines on the public tennis courts at Dearborn Park and Brighton Playfield. Just to be clear: this is neither approved by the Seattle Parks Department nor endorsed by the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association.

It’s not that there is a lack of people wanting to play pickleball in Southeast Seattle. The largest and most diverse community of pickleball players in Seattle has been playing indoors for years at the Rainier Community Center before the pandemic. And the Jefferson Community Center has hosted sizeable pickleball events through the Lifelong Recreation program and through Smash Pickleball for a long time as well.

Now, the Southeast Seattle players have petitioned the Seattle Parks Department to get some public outdoor pickleball court lines. Their story is unfolding. Read all about it by following the links below.

Episode 1: The Petition
Episode 2: Dear Superintendent
Episode 3: Hello!
Episode 4: We are pleased to offer you the least desirable courts
Episode 5: We ask that you reconsider the three requests in our petition and address them one by one
Episode 6: A slap in the face
Episode 7: Greetings Mayor Durkan
Episode 8: Since the mayor asked, the Parks department’s Deputy Superintendent steps in
Episode 9: It is incumbent upon SPR to articulate why it is policy to preserve the interests of one recreational community over another
Episode 10: Why Is SPR Choosing to Treat Southeast Seattle Differently From the Rest of the City?
Episode 11: Please Write
To be continued…

We are pleased to offer you the least desirable courts

 

 

 

June 3, 2021

 

Miguel and other Southeast pickleball players, hello. 

 

In May, Senior Planner Oliver Bazinet and the rest of the planning team met to discuss potential locations for new pickleball lines, using the limited surplus funding from the court restoration program, to help meet some of the demand where there have been issues this year.  In making the selection, the team referenced the criteria in the pickleball pilot report , and also factored in the condition of the exiting courts.  They wanted to focus on courts in areas of the city—particularly Southeast Seattle—that see relatively low reservations and seem to have high demand.  

 

Following that evaluation, staff contacted contractors to request quotes.  Having received the contractors’ quotes, we can confirm that we’ll be adding pickleball lines as outlined below. 

 

16 Southeast courts where new pickleball lines will be added

Dearborn Park (was resurfaced in 2018) – 4 new pickleball courts

Beacon Hill Playfield – 4 new pickleball courts

Mt. Baker Park – 4 new pickleball courts

Brighton Playfield (was resurfaced in 2018) – 4 new pickleball courts

Adding lines to the other courts will depend on the contractors’ schedules, but we are optimistic that we can fit in many of them this summer.  Of the 16 new pickleball courts this will add in Southeast (Dearborn, Beacon Hill, Mt. Baker, Brighton), 8 will be on recently resurfaced courts (Dearborn and Brighton).

 

12 courts where new pickleball lines will be added as part of planned resurfacing

Gilman Playground  – 4 new pickleball courts

W Magnolia Playfield – 8 new pickleball courts

We can confirm that this work will take place this year because they were already listed to be resurfaced and on the contractors’ schedules.  

 

10 courts where faded pickleball lines will be retouched

Soundview Playfield – 4 existing pickleball courts

Green Lake Park east courts – 6 existing pickleball courts

We can confirm that Green Lake will happen this year, Soundview still has to be scheduled.

 

We’re glad to be able to enhance pickleball resources at courts citywide and particularly in Southeast Seattle.

 

If you have questions about pickleball court planning, please contact Senior Planner Oliver Bazinet at oliver.bazinet@seattle.gov .

 

If you have questions about existing pickleball courts, please contact Matt Look at matthew.look@seattle.gov .

 

If you have other, general park-related questions or concerns, please contact us at PKS_Info@seattle.gov .

 

Thanks for contacting us! 

 

Sincerely,

Laurie Dunlap

Superintendent’s Office , Seattle Parks and Recreation

Next: Episode 5: We ask that you reconsider the three requests in our petition and address them one by one