Bellingham considers expansion plans for athletic complex, regional rec center
Years of hopes and dreams for a wider range of recreational opportunities are gaining momentum as the Bellingham City Council considers a “master plan” for the Civic Athletic Complex — one that includes a commitment to pursue a regional multi-use community center.
As written, the plan defines the Civic Athletic Complex as “an exceptional community space,” and sees it as a single park, rather than separate venues dedicated to individual sports, according to the document included with the council’s agenda for Monday. Such a master plan codifies the city’s intentions for development.
“This plan imagines the complex not as disparate recreation destinations, but as a lively, connected, and diverse campus that is filled with locals and visitors who are drawn to a rich offering new and improved amenities. We envision it as a place where everyone can find a way to recreate at any of the key destinations — with invitations to linger, explore and connect along the way,” Mayor Kim Lund said in the document’s executive summary.
Bounded roughly by Lakeway Drive, Moore Street, Fraser Street and Puget Street, the 79-acre site includes Arne Hanna Aquatic Center with a pool and water slide; Joe Martin Field where the Bells play semi-pro baseball; the Sportplex with an ice rink and indoor soccer; and Civic Stadium, which is used for high school football, soccer and track and field. Also included are baseball and softball fields, a skatepark and a pump track for bicycles.
“We are committed to making this plan a reality, and as we phase this work over many years, we look forward to the upgrades to existing amenities and the new and expanded opportunities it will bring,” Lund said.
Serious planning got under way in 2022 and saw a boost in 2024, when the city and Bellingham School District officials signed a cooperative agreement that could include relocating Carl Cozier Elementary from the corner of Lakeway Drive and Lincoln Street to Fraser and Puget streets at the northeast end of the athletic complex, opening the Lakeway-Lincoln site for an expanded aquatics facility and community center.
That plan now contains uncertainties and its ultimate design hinges on the school district’s plans for its elementary schools amid declining enrollment because of lower birth rates, school district spokeswoman Dana Smith told The Bellingham Herald.
“We have been in ongoing conversations with the city regarding purchasing property to relocate and rebuild Carl Cozier. However, given our recent review of birth rate and enrollment data, we are pausing these conversations while we take a closer look at all of our facilities, especially our elementary schools, across the district,” Smith said in an email. “We anticipate that our Facilities Planning Task Force will make a recommendation that may include repurposing some of our school sites or programs and/or reconfiguring attendance areas for our schools.”
A landscape architecture firm hired to design the revised sports complex presented four possible designs in November 2025 and an online survey showed overwhelming interest in “Option 1,” with the proposed community center in a visible location at Lakeway and Lincoln.
Other possible recreational opportunities include disc golf, indoor pickleball, indoor roller skating, and climbing and bouldering. Paths and trails that connect to the city’s Greenways network would encourage hiking and biking to the site. Additional parking was proposed in underground lots with playing fields above. Paid parking was also a possibility, according to the plan.
“It’s about time that we really addressed the community’s needs for much more recreation,” Councilman Skip Williams told The Herald in a December interview. “I’m just happy to see this moving forward.”
