SEATTLE — Neighbors in West Seattle are frustrated by a lack of information on a proposed pickleball court in popular Lincoln Park.
The City of Seattle is planning to build a pickleball court somewhere in the city, a sport that's taken the country by storm.
"The park means everything to me, I grew up in this park," said Kersti Muul.
The wildlife biologist who lived near the park for years is now concerned for its future. The park is home to many animals and will be disrupted by a proposed pickleball court.
"It impacts wildlife and the way that they navigate their ecosystem and their ability to find prey. A lot of animals are nocturnal, so they need that dark space," said Muul.
The Seattle Parks and Recreation Department hadn't made an official announcement about the proposed court, so many people were surprised to read about it in the West Seattle Blog.
"I'm not really sure what their plan is, because I haven't seen anything, and I've reached out. Today will be my third time and I have not had any response," said Muul.
Before the plan in Lincoln Park, the city was considering revamping the tennis courts at Solstice Park, a half mile away, and dual striping them for tennis and pickleball. But that drew criticism, too. Including criticism from John Rankin, the director of the Seattle Metro Pickleball Association.
"We want to try and have more seats at the table, we want to have more communication so that we can have more accountability and more transparency," said Rankin.
Officials with Parks and Rec now say that plan is dead. They sent KING 5 an emailed statement confirming the "Creation of a dedicated pickleball court at Lincoln Park, keeping the Solstice Park tennis courts intact as a dedicated tennis site with no dual striping."
"So we're happy about that as far as it goes, but we're still not sure of the exact nature or the scope or the timeline," said Rankin.
KING 5 did reach out to Seattle Parks and Recreation to learn more details about the proposed project but did not hear back before the story aired.