Hiawatha Playfield is scheduled to have artificial turf installed on its main playing surface in front of the Hiawatha Community Center.

The new field is being designed to accommodate baseball, football and soccer on one field. It will be encircled by a three-lane, 400-meter, rubberized running track.

There are also plans to replace Hiawatha's field lights with more slender poles and compact electrical fixtures. According to a Seattle Parks and Recreation Website, Hiawatha's new lighting system is supposed to reduce light spillover and be more energy efficient.

The backstop and fencing that now stand near the community center are to be removed.

The project is budgeted at about $3.6 million. It's scheduled to go out to bid in March and construction would run from May to completion next October, said Lynne Sullivan, project manager for Seattle Parks and Recreation.

One of the drawbacks of the renovation project is there will be nowhere to store moveable goal posts and bleachers. That's because Hiawatha Playfield, along with its trees, shrubs and other landscaping, is a certified city landmark that must be preserved. The park's appearance must always jibe with its original design by the famous Olmsted Brothers, who laid out many of Seattle's oldest parks. Their father, Frederick Law Olmsted, designed Central Park in New York.

The Olmsted Brothers design shows an open, oval-shape area with a pathway around it that measures about one-sixth of a mile in length. The main field - simultaneously striped for baseball, football and soccer - will echo the oval complete with its rubberized running track around the edges.

Back when Hiawatha Playfield was designed, baseball was the only sport whose needs were accommodated. In those days, football was strictly a college game and there was almost no interest in soccer, said Eric Gold, a designer for D.A. Hogan and Associates, a private company working on the renovation project.

The landscape of the park cannot be changed without written permission from the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Board. Since a storage shed was not included in the original plans for Hiawatha Playfield, none are allowed now, Gold explained.

Interestingly, while the landscaping of Hiawatha Playfield has landmark status, Hiawatha Community Center does not.

Today's trees were inventoried and 14 were found to be growing on the playfield's game surface, Gold said. Those trees will either be transplanted or replaced.

Of special concern is a large elm tree at the southern end of the playfield. Not only is it on the playing surface, the tree has suffered ice damage which makes it vulnerable to disease, Gold said.

Mud was often the biggest problem at Hiawatha's main playfield years ago, so a thick layer of ground-up brick was spread over the surface. While the ground-up brick allowed water to drain better, the abrasive material easily tore elbows and knees. The ground brick surface was later replaced with a sand-silt mixture that was dusty in summer.

Many recreational athletes have long requested artificial turf be installed at Hiawatha Playfield because real grass cannot stand up to the endless foot traffic of soccer, baseball and football.

Painting boundary lines, goal lines, hash marks and other official striping could create confusion when they're all painted on the same field. That's why lines on the new field will be white for baseball and football, while soccer lines will be yellow, Gold said.

Obviously the renovation project will accommodate city-run recreation programs. But because West Seattle High School is right next door to the park, the school has a long connection to the park as well.

For example, Hiawatha Playfield serves as home field for the West Seattle High School baseball team. In fact, when Seattle Parks and Recreation began seeking advice about the Hiawatha renovation project from local residents, parks officials were told baseball should be their No. 1 consideration in designing the project, Sullivan said.

Hiawatha Playfield also has been used for Wildcats' football practices and track team workouts. Those activities will continue. So design of the renovation project had to consider school sports as well as Parks Department activities, Gold said.

Tim St. Clair can be reached at 932-0300 or timstc@robinsonnews.com