Plans to renovate Tacoma elementary playfield reassessed after neighbors raise concerns

Metro Parks Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools want to revitalize Stanley Playfields into ballparks to give Stadium High School baseball and softball players a home field.

The playfields are behind Stanley Elementary School and Al Davies Boys & Girls Club at 1712 S. 17th St.

Metro Parks and TPS announced last month their plans to renovate Stanley Playfield to provide a multi-use sport facility and community park for the Central Tacoma community. The plans included a basketball court; fields for baseball, fastpitch, soccer and lacrosse field; and new playground equipment for Pre-K and K-5 children.

The project is included in the school construction bond measure that was approved by voters in 2020. The project would cost $6.18 million.

At the first community meeting in early March, neighbors, parents and others voiced concerns about the project’s plans and lack of outreach to the Central Tacoma neighborhood.

Debbie Russell, Metro Parks director of business administration and planning, said in an interview it became apparent at the initial community conversation that Metro Parks missed some steps. She said the community didn’t feel like it was consulted. Planning, which began a year ago, went too far before coming to the public, Russell said.

“This didn’t honor the community,” she said. “What we wanted to do then was basically reset.”

Metro Parks Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools had a second community meeting at People’s Community Center March 16 and asked participants what they wanted to see at Stanley Playfields. Neighbors said they want it for daily use: to play flag football and kickball in an open field, to walk or run around, to toss a ball or Frisbee, to walk their dogs and to picnic. They said they wanted more tree coverage and to keep the natural grass instead of synthetic turf. They suggested the playground should be near the parking lot. They asked MPT and TPS to consider safety with street crossings and the proximity of roads to the playfields.

“Many of the community members don’t see this as a sports complex,” Russell said. “This is their park.”

Some people at the meeting said the ballparks for Stadium High School would take up too much of the property and asked Metro Parks Tacoma and Tacoma Public Schools to look for alternatives.

The school district and Metro Parks previously explored using Heidelberg Sports Complex, 1902 S Tyler St., or Peck Athletic Fields, 1425 S State St., to be home fields for Stadium High School fastpitch and baseball teams.

Currently, Stadium baseball players commute to Vassault Park for practices and games, and fastpitch athletes travel to Browns Point Elementary School. According to Stacy Page, Tacoma Public Schools facilities communication manager, due to the commute time and inclement weather, it has resulted in canceled games and lack of participation.

Page said the current open play area at Stanley becomes a pond of standing water during the rainy season limiting play and access.

The new Stanley playfield would have synthetic turf fields to allow for year-round use and reduce the number of canceled games and practices during the rainy seasons, Page said. The field surface infill is made from processed olive pits and the turf fiber is nylon, polypropylene or polyethylene.

Russell said the objective of the 2020 bond is to ensure the facilities the schools provide are high quality and are the same everywhere in the city.

At the time, Heidelberg was being considered for a soccer stadium for the Tacoma Defiance and Reign FC and a sports complex project. Metro Parks announced in May 2022 the partnership to build a soccer stadium had dissolved. The update stated Metro Parks was in conversations with the Tacoma School District about the development of Tier 1 fields at Stanley Playfield.

Russell said Heidelberg was set aside because of the proposed soccer stadium plans. Russell said the complex is heavily used and not in great condition. Peck was deemed too small to contain both fields. It currently has four softball-sized fields.

Russell said Peck is an aging facility and that because of its condition it doesn’t have as many games on it as people would want. If Peck were to be regulation sized, it would lose two fields, she said.

“A lot of community members are saying Peck is already a facility clearly devoted to athletic field use, is that something that you could look at again,” she said.

Stanley Playfield was the third field in close proximity to Stadium that could accommodate both baseball and softball fields. The fields would take up the majority of the playfields.

Russell said she has heard from the community that there is too much of the playfield that is being taken up for the athletic fields. She said Metro Parks and Tacoma Schools are looking at other sites.

Metro Parks and Tacoma Public Schools is hosting another public meeting at 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at People’s Community Center, 1602 Martin Luther King Jr. Way, to present some alternatives.

Marty Stump, Metro Parks chief of planning & asset management, said they will be sketchy and loose and nothing final. The alternatives will show how different updates can be combined, he said.

“We know that single-use facilities aren’t as really beneficial to the broader community as things that have a broader diversity of use,” Stump said.

As a part of the conditional use permit, the City of Tacoma’s Planning and Development Services will accept public feedback on the conditional-use permit for the renovation of the playfield starting Thursday until April 6. Tacoma Public Schools applied for the permit, in partnership with Metro Parks Tacoma.

Stump said the permit is an initial step to ensure compatibility with the surrounding areas and addresses the impact of traffic, noise and light.

Page said the project is still on schedule. Clearing and grading of the future ballfield will begin this summer with construction running from the summer to this winter. Fields are anticipated to open in spring 2024. The elementary school play equipment would be removed during construction and replaced with new equipment for students and community-use.

Russell said the project could be delayed as they take a pause to work with the community.

“We ultimately don’t want to be constructing something that isn’t what the community needs,” she said.