Sedro-Woolley City Council looks to move baseball fields to the Northern State Recreation Area

SEDRO-WOOLLEY - The city of Sedro-Woolley has taken an initial step in an attempt to relocate the baseball fields at Riverfront Park to the Northern State Recreation Area.

The City Council voted 5-1 on June 24 to authorize city staff to engage with Skagit County in developing an interlocal agreement to put the fields at the county-owned recreation area.

The city evaluated three options for relocating the fields.

The option preferred by the city is to put the fields south of the current Northern State Recreation Area parking lot.

"What we wanted to do is simply leave the county with clarity on the city's position as it relates to a partnership at Northern State Recreation Area," City Administrator Charlie Bush said.

The county Board of Commissioners will take public comment on this, or any matter, by email at commissioners@co.skagit.wa.us.

County staff will present the item to the commissioners at their study session at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday. The study session is open to the public, however, public comment will not be taken.

The item regarding the fields appeared on the City Council's June 24 agenda under the "other" heading because it was added late.

Sedro-Woolley wants to move the fields because Skagit River flooding has consistently caused damage to the Riverfront Park diamonds, dugouts and fencing, costing the city about $300,000 for repairs between the 2021 and 2025.

The city had been considering moving the baseball fields to Winnie Houser Park and the soccer fields at Winnie Houser to Riverfront, however, the move to the Northern State Recreation Area is now the preferred option.

The city would manage the fields and be responsible for routine operation and maintenance.

Relocating the baseball fields to the recreation area is estimated to cost between $350,000 and $500,000.

The city has $300,000 from a 2026 property sale that could go toward the project. The remaining funding would be a combination of REET, Parks Reserve funding, or surplus General Fund Reserves.

"City staff were brainstorming and we realized the NSRA had ballfields as part of their master plan," Public Works Director Bill Bullock said. "There were ballfields as part of the master plan for the last 25 years. As we started looking at that, we realized there were some distinct advantages."

Baseball fields are at a premium in Sedro-Woolley, and a move has been seen as necessary by many as well as something that should have been done years ago.

There is some opposition to the move that is centered around the nesting area of several American bitterns at the Northern State Recreation Area. A member of the heron family, the American bittern utilizes freshwater marshes as its primary habitat.

"Even if the county commissioners were to say go forth and explore some more, see what you can work out with us, or are they fully against this, we just want to get some indication as to where they stand," Bush said. "So we're following this along because we want to make this happen and we are doing what we can.

"The county commissioners will now know where we stand and there's no, ‘What does Sedro-Woolley want?' Here's what Sedro-Woolley wants and we are now really clear on that."

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This story was originally published July 3, 2026 at 7:05 AM.