Student athletes at Chief Sealth International High School and Denny International Middle School will practice on a new cork-and-sand surface this fall, replacing crumb-rubber turf that Seattle Public Schools has been phasing out since 2016.

Crews began removing the old surface at the Nino Cantu Southwest Athletic Complex upper softball field on June 18, 2026.

SPS Project Manager Conrad Plyler said the Nino Cantu field is one of the last two districtwide still using crumb-rubber infill. He said contractor FieldTurf USA will finish "no later than the start of school," possibly by mid-August.

The new field layers a 25-millimeter elastic base beneath sand and cork infill, then artificial turf on top. Plyler said the cork-and-sand system is "more resilient for head trauma" than crumb rubber.

Crumb rubber contains 6PPD and 6PPD-Q, chemicals found in tire-derived rubber that the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health has documented as toxic to Pacific Northwest salmon when they wash into stormwater runoff. Plyler noted the old material "gets everywhere," including into nearby waterways.

Two voter-approved levies fund the project: the 2022 Buildings, Technology, and Academics/Athletics Capital Levy (BTA V) and the 2025 Building Excellence Capital Levy (BEX VI). Seattle voters approved BTA V in February 2022 with nearly 80 percent support.

That levy raises $783 million over six years and specifically included a line item to replace the Nino Cantu softball field surface and lighting. The district has not released a project-level cost for this field.

FieldTurf USA is performing the Delridge work under the same cooperative contract that covers concurrent track resurfacing at Roosevelt High School (1410 NE 66th St.) and Ballard High School (1418 NW 65th St.).

The most recent large field replacements in West Seattle happened in 2023 at Madison Middle School and West Seattle High School. Turf surfaces need replacement every 10 to 12 years, according to Plyler.

Six 70-foot LED lighting poles are planned for the softball field in summer 2027. The SEPA public comment period for that lighting project closed July 1.

Once SPS completes the final SEPA checklist and any appeals are resolved, the district will apply for city permits.

The complex at 2600 SW Thistle St. is named for Nino Cantu, the grounds and event manager who died in October 2018. The Seattle School Board voted unanimously in 2021 to rename the facility in his honor after a campaign led by Denny Middle School lunchroom manager Doree Fazio-Young.