This Tacoma park slated to get major face-lift after neighbors criticized original plan
Plans to redesign a 9-acre park in Central Tacoma into a large all-season sports field and community space have been approved by the Metro Parks Tacoma Park Board.
Peck Athletic Complex, to be renamed Peck Community Sports Park, will be the new home base for Stadium High School’s baseball team once finished. The park is at 1425 S. State St. in Tacoma.
Monday’s vote came after a contentious re-planning effort earlier this year by Tacoma Public Schools and Metro Parks Tacoma to find a space that would provide much-needed baseball and softball facilities for Stadium High School while balancing the desires of Central Tacoma and Hilltop residents who wanted grassy fields at Stanley Playfield to stay that way. Stanley Playfield will get a new playground, but the remaining field would remain unchanged for now.
Peck Community Sports Park might see many changes from its current form. The sports complex currently has four softball-sized fields and is a seven-minute drive from Stadium High School.
If funding can be secured, the new park would feature more green space, playgrounds, gardens, orchards and sports fields for baseball, soccer, softball, kickball and lacrosse. The final master plan also calls for multiple basketball courts, as well as a wavy track where kids can develop their cycling skills, according to Metro Parks. A construction time line is dependent on money becoming available.
Neighborhood requests for improved safety and access to the park, including an elevated street crossing for South State and South 14th streets, are in the final plan, according to Metro Parks.
The improvements are estimated to cost about $10 million to $12 million, according to an executive summary sent to the Park Board on Nov. 20.
“The implementation of the plan is likely to be phased, as funds are made available,” according to public documents. “The Master Plan funding was allocated from Planning Department operational funds in the amount of $131,000.”
Kristi Evans, capital program manager of Community and Neighborhood Parks, told the News Tribune last month that one baseball field would be funded by the school district, and the remaining park improvements might be funded by bonds or grants.
