Seattle Parks and Recreation promised the pickleball community 6 pickleball courts at Solstice Park in West Seattle.  Seven months later, the decision was reversed without communication.

Broken Promise

Seattle Parks did not communicate with pickleball players that it was reconsidering its decision to add pickleball court lines to some of the Solstice Park tennis courts, or the reason behind this reversal. It did not even communicate to pickleball players that this decision had been made.

We found out from a story on West Seattle Blog that Seattle Parks had reversed its decision to paint pickleball court lines on three of the six Solstice Parks tennis courts this summer and decided to keep “the Solstice Park tennis courts intact as a dedicated tennis site.”

Empty Tennis Courts All Winter

West Seattle pickleball players need lighted courts for the short winter days. We play outdoor year round. We squeegee rain, snow, and even hail to clear the courts to play. Tennis is not played at all when the courts are wet. The 6 to be resurfaced Solstice tennis courts with new LED lights will be mostly empty for months.

We can only guess what happened. The most likely scenario is that some tennis players were not happy to share three of their six courts with pickleball players and successfully convinced Seattle Parks to reverse course.

Seattle Parks announced dedicated pickleball courts will be built at Lincoln Park. No timeline committed, may not have lights, and certainly will not be completed in time for winter. 

ACT NOW!

The Solstice courts are scheduled to be resurfaced and the work can start any day.  

• Transparency  Seattle Parks need to explain the decision process that led them to reverse their decision to paint pickleball court lines on three of the six Solstice Parks tennis courts, and to explain why pickleball players were not involved in this process.
• Reversal  Seattle Parks need to follow through and deliver the 6 pickleball courts at Solstice Park.