West Woodland one step closer to new playfield

It’s recess at West Woodland Elementary, but you’d never know it by this empty field. The wet, mushy field is roped off with a sign that says “Field Closed.”

The principal at West Woodland and several others made their case to the Ballard District Council (BDC) last night to support their request for $85,000 from the Neighborhood Matching Large Project Fund. The school wants to restore the field so kids, neighbors and youth teams can use it. They’d also like to add a track around the field. A three-person sub-committee from the BDC reviewed the request by the Friends of West Woodland and enthusiastically endorsed the project. Shannon Dunn, the spokesperson for the committee, said that the three of them were given specific criteria by the Department of Neighborhoods and measured the application against those. After a full review, the sub-committee scored the application at 87 out of 100. With her thumbs up she told the council, “Yes! Yes! Yes! From the three of us!” She encouraged the entire council to approve the application and said that with the lack of green space in east Ballard, this is a great opportunity to create a park that everyone can use. The BDC agreed and unanimously approved the application which now has several more hurdles with other committees. Mayor Greg Nickels will ultimately choose award recipients which is then voted on by the Seattle City Council. According to Rob Mattson, the final list of projects will be announced sometime in September.