500 signatures reached
To: Michele Finnegan, Interim Superintendent of Seattle Parks and Recreation
Save and Grow Seattle Tennis
We want Parks and the city, to put the brakes on this plan and use of tennis courts for anything other than their built purpose of public tennis.
The USTA states that tennis participation in the PNW has grown at a 10.8% rate in the past five years. In an increasingly competitive sports and recreation environment, this expansion demonstrates tennis' broadening appeal and strengthening position in the U.S.
This is a time for Seattle Parks and Recreation to be increasing the number of courts and improving their lighting and general maintenance. The lifelong sport of tennis contributes significantly to a healthy and active community, crosses generational boundaries and brings diverse groups together.
Seattle’s tennis courts have been developed as generational legacy for the public to enjoy, beginning as far back as 1912, with the courts built at Volunteer Park.
Many courts were "taken" over the past few years when they were striped for dual-purpose between pickleball and tennis with Parks taking an inexpensive budget path that pitted tennis players against pickleball players at a time when both sports were growing. This goes against the Park spirit of building healthy communities, creating needless conflict and conflating the two very different activities. It's time for all tennis courts to go back to their intended and originally approved and voted on purpose, tennis.
The draft “2026 Racquet Sports Strategy" needs to be more widely distributed with more time and opportunities for real public feedback. No tennis courts should be eliminated and in fact the city should build more tennis courts due to the growth in the sport as well as the population growth in Seattle. We believe strongly that the city should also build some dedicated pickleball courts away from houses (due to the loud noise issue). One sport should not be pitted against the other especially when both are growing.
Additionally, outreach on this racquet sports strategy has been completely insufficient and the most basic outreach to tennis players wasn’t done. There were no notices posted at the largest best-used tennis facility in the city, Lower Woodland Park, or the largest best-used in the south end, Jefferson Park.
We want Parks and the City, to put the brakes on this plan and use of tennis courts for anything other than their built purpose of public tennis.
Please save all our current tennis courts, add new tennis courts and build new pickleball courts away from residents! It's time to do the right thing that should have been done five years ago. Thank you!
The USTA states that tennis participation in the PNW has grown at a 10.8% rate in the past five years. In an increasingly competitive sports and recreation environment, this expansion demonstrates tennis' broadening appeal and strengthening position in the U.S.
This is a time for Seattle Parks and Recreation to be increasing the number of courts and improving their lighting and general maintenance. The lifelong sport of tennis contributes significantly to a healthy and active community, crosses generational boundaries and brings diverse groups together.
Seattle’s tennis courts have been developed as generational legacy for the public to enjoy, beginning as far back as 1912, with the courts built at Volunteer Park.
Many courts were "taken" over the past few years when they were striped for dual-purpose between pickleball and tennis with Parks taking an inexpensive budget path that pitted tennis players against pickleball players at a time when both sports were growing. This goes against the Park spirit of building healthy communities, creating needless conflict and conflating the two very different activities. It's time for all tennis courts to go back to their intended and originally approved and voted on purpose, tennis.
The draft “2026 Racquet Sports Strategy" needs to be more widely distributed with more time and opportunities for real public feedback. No tennis courts should be eliminated and in fact the city should build more tennis courts due to the growth in the sport as well as the population growth in Seattle. We believe strongly that the city should also build some dedicated pickleball courts away from houses (due to the loud noise issue). One sport should not be pitted against the other especially when both are growing.
Additionally, outreach on this racquet sports strategy has been completely insufficient and the most basic outreach to tennis players wasn’t done. There were no notices posted at the largest best-used tennis facility in the city, Lower Woodland Park, or the largest best-used in the south end, Jefferson Park.
We want Parks and the City, to put the brakes on this plan and use of tennis courts for anything other than their built purpose of public tennis.
Please save all our current tennis courts, add new tennis courts and build new pickleball courts away from residents! It's time to do the right thing that should have been done five years ago. Thank you!
Why is this important?
Parks is holding community meetings and receiving public input now. The petition is needed at this point before decisions are made.