The many colored lines of the Washington Park field (Image: City of Seattle)

Several sports fields across Seattle are closed and in need of repairs after a sustained bout of freezing temperatures has caused damage to the synthetic turf. Seattle Parks says at least nine of the fields at its facilities have been reported damaged and the Seattle Public Schools system has closed all of its turf fields to “assess the severity and scope of the damage on their fields.”

“Unfortunately, this weekend with the extreme freezing weather, a number of SPR (Seattle Parks) and SPS (Seattle Public Schools) synthetic turf fields experienced buckling and damage underneath the turf, resulting in lumps, divots and craters in areas of the field that make them unplayable,” the statement from the city parks department read.

The closures are already causing havoc for youth sports practices and the many adult leagues who put the fields to heavy use around the city.

Seattle Parks says there could be more fields that have sustained damage as temperatures dropped into the teens over the weekend and hit some of the lowest marks measured in Seattle in a decade.

Known Seattle Parks fields with damage in the Capitol Hill and Central District area include Washington Park off E Madison and the relatively newly installed turf at Montlake Playfield.

Parks officials have said the buckling is unexpected and an effort is underway to determine what has led to the failures.

There is no schedule for the reopening of fields at the city’s public school campuses.

UPDATE 1/22/2024: The city says four fields remain closed — Montlake Playfield, Washington Park Playfield, Lower Woodland # 7, and Loyal Heights Playfield.

The cause has been determined to be “cork migration.” due the freezing temperatures. The parks department says the cork material used in the fields “has blended with leaves and debris and the result is very saturated material, which prevents our staff from using the equipment needed for repair.”

The fields need “significant grooming work to be done to resolve.” For that to happen, the weather needs to cooperate. “Currently, it remains too wet to get that work done,” the latest update reads.

In 2018, the city began experimenting with cork to replace crumb rubber in its sports fields with a test at Cal Anderson Park.

The $1 million project replaced the playfield’s 10-year-old and in need of replacement crumb rubber surface with a new experimental cork and sand alternative. There is some evidence crumb rubber fields using materials made from recycled tires could be contaminating fields and there are concerns the crumb rubber fields are exposing people to dangerous chemicals.

The cork is used at several fields across the city and not all experienced the damaging buckling. Last year, the parks department announced the cork and sand mix as the new standard for its fields.

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