Montlake Playfield Upgrade
Project Information

Location: 1618 E Calhoun Street

Project Status

Winter/Spring 2012
Seattle Parks and Recreation is moving forward with renovations to the Montlake Playfield football/soccer field that will solve long-term problems with soggy, swampy ground and provide a great space that will be more available for year-round play.

Construction work to renovate the Montlake Playfield football/soccer field will resume on Tuesday, February 21, 2012. Ohno Construction will begin preparing the field for the turf installation and anticipates construction will last through the end of May 2012.

The project provides a challenge for construction equipment as it is a one-way, dead-end street. Ohno Construction, whose generous donation made this project possible, is committed to working with the neighbors and with Parks and Recreation staff to make this project a success.

Parks brought in the materials at the end of 2011 and weather conditions are now conducive to construction.

Today the field is virtually unplayable. The site was surrounded by "low, swampy ground covered with swamp grass and rushes,” according to a 1937 letter from the City Engineer. The low basin that is now the playfield was originally a peat bog.

Despite repeated filling over the years, the playfield has been only intermittently playable because of uneven pressures on the viscous peat below that cause upheavals in the playfield area and shore lands. Field conditions continue to deteriorate and require seasonal renovation projects every year, including reseeding of the entire field, removal of existing turf, and importing thousands of pounds of sand and sod.

The renovation, which includes replacement of the current surface with a synthetic turf surface and the work that will create the needed undersurface for the field, is made possible by a generous donation from Ohno Construction. This surface will mean less daily and annual maintenance and will make the field safe, playable, and available much more often for community events.

Project Description

The renovated field will increase playable hours, promote safety with an even surface, reduce the year-round and annual costs of field maintenance, reduce the expense of field preparation, conserve water, and reduce the use of fertilizer and soil amendments. There is no proposal for lighted fields in the project.

Community Participation

Parks held two public meetings at the Montlake Community Center on October 10 and 13 to describe the proposed improvements and gather input from neighbors and park users.

Important Links

• Seattle Parks & Recreation
• Major Maintenance
• Montlake Playfield

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