In the fall of 2024, District 1 Councilmember Rob Saka asked West Seattle which local softball or baseball field should trade its dirt infield for synthetic turf. A total of 443 people voted. Fairmount Park Playfield won with 137 votes, 31 percent of the total. Walt Hundley Playfield in High Point came in eighth of eight, with 19 votes and 4.3 percent. Two years later, Seattle Parks and Recreation has active project pages for both fields. The vote picked Fairmount. Walt Hundley got its project from a city policy that replaces synthetic turf when it wears out, whatever any survey says. If your family has games or practices at these two fields, both are heading toward a closure, and neither project page posts a construction start date.
How 137 votes picked a softball infield
The Fairmount project began with complaints. Saka's newsletter said his office kept hearing about the shortage of turf fields in city parks, with concerns about accessibility, player safety, and gender parity under Title IX. It also noted that girls' softball fields in Seattle are often grass, while boys' baseball fields are turfed.
His office then asked five youth leagues for their picks: Southwest Little League, West Seattle Little League, West Seattle Baseball, Rainier Little League, and Seattle Central Little League. Those picks became a list of eight finalists. The public vote ranked them like this:
| Finalist playfield | Votes | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Fairmount Park | 137 | 31% |
| Riverview | 107 | 24.2% |
| Lincoln Park South | 46 | 10.4% |
| Hiawatha | 45 | 10.2% |
| EC Hughes | 38 | 8.6% |
| Highland Park | 27 | 6.1% |
| Bar-S | 24 | 5.4% |
| Walt Hundley | 19 | 4.3% |
Fairmount beat second-place Riverview by 30 votes, and the project was funded in the 2025 city budget. As of the Seattle Parks project page updated July 24, 2026, the job at 5400 Fauntleroy Way SW has a $1.5 million budget from the Real Estate Excise Tax (REET) Capital Fund. It will turn the clay-and-silt infield into synthetic turf, upgrade the dugouts and backstop, and improve the accessible pathways. D.A. Hogan is the design consultant and will stay on through construction. The project's stated goal is safe, playable youth softball all year, including in bad weather.
Walt Hundley's turf came from a schedule
Walt Hundley never needed votes. Its field is already synthetic turf, and Seattle Parks has an asset lifecycle policy that sets when synthetic turf gets replaced. The Walt Hundley turf project hub says the job will replace the turf and fix barriers to getting onto the field. In its update dated June 5, 2026, the project was in design and permitting, and the design consultant had drawn up site plans.
A second project is happening at the same park. Under a Summer 2026 heading, the restroom renovation hub says an assessment found the restroom roof has to be replaced, and that interior and ADA updates are planned too. The restroom will be at least partly closed during construction.
So High Point is getting a new field surface and a renovated restroom at once. It's happening on the city's maintenance schedule, not because of public demand. The project hub says the playfield will close during construction. It doesn't give a closure date, a construction window, or a budget.
Here are the two projects as Parks currently describes them:
| Fairmount Playground | Walt Hundley Playfield | |
|---|---|---|
| Why it's happening | 2024 community survey, funded in 2025 budget | Asset lifecycle turf replacement |
| Scope | Dirt infield to turf, dugouts, backstop, pathways | Turf replacement, access fixes, restroom roof and interior |
| Budget posted | $1.5 million, REET | Not posted |
| Status posted | Construction fall 2026, done late 2026/early 2027 | Design and permitting as of summer 2026 |
| Closure | Softball field closed during construction | Playfield closed during construction; restroom at least partly closed |
Where "fall 2026" stands in early October
Fairmount is further along, but its timeline is still a plan. In July, a Westside Seattle story first reported that construction had started and the site was closed. On July 27, Seattle Parks sent a correction. Karen O'Connor of Seattle Parks said, "We are finalizing our bid documents for this project and anticipate being in construction this fall with opening prior to the Spring 2027 softball season."
The Parks project page, last updated July 24, gives no exact closure dates for Fairmount. It lists construction as "Fall 2026" and completion as "Late 2026/Early 2027." Its goal is to open before the spring 2027 softball season. If construction starts in the next few weeks, crews will be working during the wettest months of the year on a project meant to stop rainouts.
Walt Hundley's posted status is a step behind. Its last turf update listed design and permitting, which the Fairmount project wrapped up over the summer. The project pages don't say whether the two fields could be closed at the same time. Neither page lists a date.
Who plays on these two fields
Two closures in the same part of West Seattle matter because the same groups use both fields. West Seattle Little League lists Fairmount and Walt Hundley among its main fields for practices and games.
West Seattle Soccer Club's Fall 2026 field assignments put U9 games at Fairmount Park and Riverview North and U10 games at Walt Hundley. Walt Hundley is also one of the main home fields for U13 through U19 teams, along with Delridge, Hiawatha, and Nino Cantu Stadium. The club also says that for Fall 2026 it is "trying out assigned practice space." Fairmount's softball infield isn't where soccer is played, but Parks says the whole softball field will close while its infield is rebuilt.
Adults use these fields as well. DiscNW, the regional ultimate frisbee group, has a Fall Mixed Team League game between FrisRUs and Mystery Machine on Saturday, October 17, at 6:30 p.m. on the east field at Walt Hundley.
Both project pages say Parks will work with its athletic scheduling team to limit the effect on field users. In practice, that means leagues will hear about schedule changes from the city's field schedulers before any work starts.
What's on the calendar around the fields
These dates are confirmed:
- October 6, 2026. Registration opens for High Point Community Center's winter 2026/27 basketball league. The center is at 6920 34th Ave SW, and its Fall 2026 drop-in schedule includes adult, family, and youth open gym, pickleball, soccer, tot gym, youth volleyball, and the monthly Original Gamers.
- October 17, 2026. DiscNW's FrisRUs vs. Mystery Machine game at 6:30 p.m. on Walt Hundley's east field.
- Daily, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Starbird Chicken, its first Washington location, opened September 28 at The Whittaker, 4755 Fauntleroy Way SW, in the former MOD Pizza space. It's a short drive up Fauntleroy from Fairmount after a game, according to West Seattle Blog.
High Point Commons Park, a few blocks from Walt Hundley, also has the West Seattle Bee Garden at its north end. The garden held a volunteer work party on September 6, according to that week's West Seattle Blog event list.
Both turf projects are still undated on the calendar. The Fairmount page and the Walt Hundley turf and restroom hubs are where Seattle Parks says it will post progress updates. Each hub has a "Keep Up to Date" email signup for notices about closure timing as the work moves forward.
Improvements like a turf infield or a renovated park restroom are part of how buyers see the blocks around Fairmount and High Point. They're also part of the story a seller tells about those blocks. If you're thinking about the year ahead in this part of West Seattle, Hines Group is glad to walk through how projects like these fit into the timing of a move. Request a Complimentary Home Consultation.
