SPS makes moves to build Lincoln High School's new athletic field

After years of community debate, Seattle Public Schools has settled on a location for an athletic field for Lincoln High School - the district's only comprehensive high school without a dedicated field.

On Wednesday, SPS Superintendent Ben Shuldiner announced the proposal to build Lincoln High's new athletic field in Woodland Park at North 50th Street and Aurora Avenue North, where a gravel lot currently sits.

Shuldiner broke the news first to Lincoln students at an end-of-year assembly.

"More than four years ago, the good people of Seattle said we needed a field," Shuldiner told the students and faculty assembled in the gymnasium, acknowledging that the district took "a long time" to settle on a location. "But I'm here today to tell you that the school district is going to be sending a letter at 2 p.m. today to the Parks Department to tell them what our plans are to build you a new field."

The students erupted into cheers.

"But this is Seattle, so it means it will still take forever," Shuldiner added, explaining that the proposal must pass additional boards and assessments that consider the impact on trees, wildlife and other parkgoers. "But the important piece is that as a school district we are finally making a decision," Shuldiner added.

Chloe Hanscom, a Lincoln senior who is also one of the captains of the track and gymnastics teams, said she's excited - and skeptical.

"We've had people say that we're ready to build before, and nothing has happened," Hanscom said. "But if this proposal actually does get the build started, I know that hundreds of athletes at Lincoln will be very grateful."

"It's been extremely hard to commute to other schools and borrow spaces that don't belong to us for the past few years," Hanscom added.

Without a dedicated field, student athletes have been bussing to other locations to practice and compete, including the now-defunct Memorial Stadium at Seattle Center, existing Woodland Park fields and Ingraham High School's stadium in North Seattle.

Ben Ward, a junior who plays basketball and football for Lincoln, said he sometimes doesn't get home until 10 p.m. because he has to bus back from Ingraham's field after practice. He's also hopeful that a new, permanent field will mean Lincoln's football will attract coaches who want to stay.

"No one wants to coach a team that doesn't have a field," Ward said. "We practice on a softball field on Wednesday and we have to move a bunch of times for eighth graders who are playing softball."

Shuldiner's proposal asks Seattle Parks and Recreation to partner with the district to design and build a full-size, multisport field to replace the gravel lot currently located at the far southwest corner of Woodland Park. The proposed field could be used for soccer, football, ultimate Frisbee and lacrosse. The proposal also seeks to upgrade the existing track at Lower Woodland Field No. 7 to support the school's track program.

Shuldiner's proposal selects one of two location options the district first publicly considered in August. The other option presented at the time was to build two new fields replacing the current single Woodland Soccer Field No. 2, which could have displaced nearby BMX dirt bike jumps that have been maintained by community members for decades.

This is the school district's third attempt to build an athletic field for Lincoln, which enrolls 1,792 students, and is located in the heart of Wallingford, about 1 mile south of Woodland Park.

In 2024, the district proposed building a field at Wallingford Playfield. That plan was nixed after neighbors objected. In August 2025, SPS proposed building two fields over one of the existing Woodland soccer fields, sparking more community outrage from those worried the plan would destroy historic trees and beloved BMX bike jumps and crowd an already high-traffic area used heavily by the public.

The district's latest proposal appears to have eased many of those community concerns.

Friends of Lower Woodland Park, a community group concerned with the environmental and public access issues raised by the district's earlier proposals, launched a petition in 2025 that collected 800 signatures opposing the district's earlier plan to build two fields over the existing soccer field.

"We're delighted it's not at soccer field No. 2," said Eric Fisk, president of Friends of Woodland Park. "This is a win and we are going to shut down the petition going forward. We are thanking Ben (Shuldiner) for that."

Friends of Lower Woodland Park is still concerned with how many trees may be affected by the new field created at the gravel lot. There are 10 large western red cedars in the area, which are a critically underrepresented species, Fisk said.

The community group hopes the district will narrow the field from its planned 195 feet to 180 feet wide, and orient it diagonally into the hillside to avoid the cedar trees. The group is also urging the district not to add a new parking lot, suggesting the 170 parking spots in the nearby picnic loop are sufficient. The group also suggested building additional accessible pathways to increase direct access to the field from the existing parking spots and 50th Street.

The field will be paid for by a property tax levy approved by voters in 2022, earmarked for SPS capital projects, including a new field for Lincoln.

The district's proposal must be reviewed by the Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners, who may then recommend it to the superintendent of Seattle Parks to make a preliminary decision. If the proposal advances, SPS will need to conduct an environmental-impact statement, said Christina Hirsch, spokesperson for Seattle Parks.

The district said it would carefully consider impacts to public cross-country and cyclocross use of the area, and the best orientation for the field with the goal of reducing impacts on tree canopy and surrounding natural areas. The district will also conduct a traffic and parking study and assess for Americans with Disabilities Act compliance.

Lincoln High School's principal said he's thrilled about the proposal, because it will provide full-sized fields that can be used for multiple sports. "All of our teams are getting the right type of field for them to be on," principal Corey Eichner said. "This is the (proposal) that really does center the needs of the school and our student-athletes."

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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 6:42 AM.