Since Ballard's Webster Park in the Sunset Hill neighborhood was classified last summer as "surplus" by property owners Seattle Public Schools, it's being marketed to the city's Park's Department, which has maintained it for several years.

The city leases for $1 a year the .8-acre park that sits west of the 1907 Daniel Webster Elementary School. It's the flagship park of local non-profit Groundswell NW, an organization that has helped create more than a dozen parks and open spaces in Ballard.

The district plans to sell the old school too, which has been leased by the Nordic Heritage Museum for the past 28 years. But that won't happen for at least another five to eight years, said the district's property manager Ron English during a public hearing last week at Webster school.

The museum recently secured a new lease with the district that increased its rent by about 92 percent and needs to stay in the school building while it raises funds to build its new facility on Market Street. In the meantime, the district will sell the adjoining park.

Webster Park is appraised at a fair market value of $1.6 million. The district is currently negotiating the purchase price with the city's Parks and Recreation Department, said English.

It's uncertain, though, whether the city has the funds to buy it. If a sale to the city does not pan out, the Seattle School Board will likely decide to put it on the open market.

Currently, English said no other offers have been made on the property and he's been instructed by the board to negotiate only with the city initially. But the site is zoned residential, and neighbors who attended the hearing said they did not want to see housing replace a public space.

"That's not what the school district wants either," said English. "We want it to stay a park."

Don Harris, property and acquisition services manager for the parks department, said Mayor Greg Nickels has set aside $1 million in the current budget to go toward purchase of the park, but the city will need to come up with the difference somehow.

"We need to review the appraisal to make sure they've got the right values on that," said Harris. "We have every intention of securing the long-term ownership of Webster Park from the district. I'm sure we'll figure out a way to do that."

Webster Park is located in a heavily residential area with mostly single-family homes between Northwest 67th Street and Northwest 68th Street, just east of 32nd Avenue.

About 30 people attended the public hearing on April 3 and a court reporter recorded the meeting, which English said would be presented to the School Board. State law requires a public hearing and School Board approval before the district can sell any of its property.

Morgan Thomas lives eight houses away from the park and spends a lot of time there with her 2- and 5-year-old children. She supports the city's effort to buy it for continued use as a park and said she would oppose any other use.

Everyone who spoke was in support of the sale to the city and one parent even said it's an "invaluable resource" for her children and that she moved to the neighborhood in part because there was a park nearby.

Laura Cooper, Ballard resident and member of the Ballard Historical Society, said Webster Park is an asset to the community.

"I think it's critical that Seattle preserve as much open space as possible," said Cooper.

Dave Boyd, president of Groundswell NW, the group who helped create the park, said he "wholeheartedly" supports the sale.

English said a purchase agreement between the city and school district must be reached by June and that he would consider some kind of payment system or "fair lease agreement" if the city could not come up with all the money at once.

Webster school and park are one of five old school sites the district is in the process of selling because they are no longer needed as schools. Long-time tenants of the Crown Hill School, Phinney Neighborhood Center, Fauntleroy Schoolhouse in West Seattle and University Heights are all developing fundraising plans to purchase their buildings.

The money the district makes will be used to refurbish other school buildings and classrooms, said English.

If an agreement is reached with the city, English expects a motion to be presented to the School Board on June 4 and voted on June 18. The public has a chance to comment at both of those meetings.

English also suggested individually contacting Seattle City Council members, School Board members and the mayor.

"The parks department wants this to happen," he said. "They are fully in support of it. Funding decisions come from the City Council and the mayor."

Rebekah Schilperoort can be reached at 783-1244 or rebekahs@robinsonnews.com.