Dixie State to Install Synthetic Grass Playing Field

DSC to begin installation of synthetic playing field

(ST. GEORGE, UT – Jan. 16, 2004) In what seems like a no brainer of a move given the desert climate of St. George, Dixie State College will Monday begin construction on a new synthetic turf field in Hansen Stadium, home to the college’s football and soccer teams and to the annual Dixie Rotary Bowl.

When all operation and maintenance costs are taken into consideration for the current grass field at Hansen Stadium, notable among them being water, the college currently forks out approximately $100,000 each year to maintain the field.

“It’s very difficult to grow and maintain grass here,” said DSC athletic director Dexter Irvin. “And the very time of year we need it to play football and soccer is the very time the grass is the most stressed. It’s gone through the hot summer, at which point it’s difficult, if not impossible, to keep it up.

“It’s more fiscally and ethically responsible to have this type of a field than anything else we’ve done athletically for a long time. It’s the right thing to do. It’s just that initial hit of what it costs you to put it in that you have to swallow.”

The price tag for the new field will be $651,000. Funding will come from two sources: private donations and revenue from a rental property the college owns. The field will be under warrantee for eight years, but the college expects to get a lot more mileage out of it than that.

“Given the cost, it’s got about a six-and-a-half year payback, and we think the surface could last as long as 20 years,” said DSC president Dr. Robert Huddleston. “There are fields like this out there that have been in operation past the warranty, but there haven’t been any out long enough to see how long they really will last.”

Other costs that will disappear, once the new field is completed sometime in May, include costs to paint and line the field, which range between $3,000 and $4,000 each year, equipment depreciation expenses, and the cost to overseed, fertilize, and otherwise maintain the field, including manpower. There will be some maintenance and upkeep required for the new field, but not to the tune of the $100,000 currently required. There are also several purely athletic advantages to such a field.

“Injury rates are down on a field like this, as compared to a grass field,” Irvin said. “Players don’t have any holes to deal with, no sprinklers to step on, the footing is more consistent. And any rug burn or turf toe problems are no worse than on a grass field.”

Irvin also pointed out that the field will benefit the entire community, not just the college, and that the college is currently exploring partnership possibilities with several county and city entities.

“The more the field is used, the more the cost per event comes down, so there’s a potential for savings there as well,” Irvin said. “Plus, the design of the field is such that this product gets better with usage.”

The company that will be contracted with for the project is Turf Technologies based in California. One of the main differences between traditional artificial turf and the new synthetic turf is the absorbency of the synthetic surface, Irvin said. Twenty-seven pounds of rubber per square yard will rest under two-and-a-half inches of synthetic grass fiber on the new field. Also included will be a drainage system under the field.

“The old Astroturf was like playing on carpet on top of asphalt with no padding,” Irvin said. “It was like playing football on a church gym floor is what it amounted to.”

One important downside to the field in the short-term, at least as far as the local community is concerned, is that it will force the stadium and track to be closed during the construction period. The track will again reopen to the public on approximately May 1.

“We hope everybody will be understanding and work with us and use all the many streets and the city trail system and other tracks in town to walk on right now,” Irvin said.

A big selling point for Dixie State on the turf ultimately selected was that the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, very similar to St. George in terms of climate, installed the same playing surface in its football stadium this past season, and is enjoying it, Irvin said.

“It’s not just the cost of the water,” Irvin said. “It’s whether or not, when we have other technologies, should we continue to use water this way? If with water is the only way to do it, then that’s all you can do. Right now, you can’t afford to put a golf course in this stuff. But for athletic fields, in my opinion, we shouldn’t being looking at anything other than synthetic fields from now on.”

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