Brockton (Mass.) Borrowing $1.2 Million To Rehab Field, Track

August 2, 2011 /
The Enterprise (Mass.), Erik Potter

http://www.enterprisenews.com/answerbook/brockton/x1510863812/Brockton-High-s-Marciano-Stadium-field-rehab-could-start-Monday

The field is ripped and uneven. Some parts are in tatters. You can lift entire sections into the air and peek at the black grains of pulverized tire underneath.

“It’s a mess,” says Brockton High School Principal Susan Szachowicz.

The city is borrowing $1.2 million to rehab not just the deteriorated artificial-turf football field at Brockton High’s Marciano Stadium, but also the surrounding track and fence, the drainage underneath and the goal posts at either end.

The School Committee’s bid review panel met Monday to recommend a contractor for the project, with a final winner to be chosen Wednesday night.

Work could begin as early as Monday.

Retired athletic director Tom Kenney, now working as a consultant on the field replacement project, is hoping to have the field ready to go for Brockton’s second home game on Sept. 23 against Xaverian High School.

The Sept. 16 home game against Taunton is expected to be played in Taunton and at least two home soccer games for the boys’ and girls’ teams will be moved to the junior varsity field.

The current football field was installed in 2002 at a cost of $1 million. Kenney said the expected life span was about eight years. With a lot of attention and strong adhesives, the school’s maintenance crew was able to push that to nine years.

“Our guys spend four hours getting the field ready for every game,” Kenney said.

They sweep the field to remove debris and “fluff” up the fake grass, which has worn down to about a half-inch tall from its original two inches. Then comes the process of gluing the torn patches down and sewing up the separated seams of the carpet.

Kenney put the annual maintenance cost the past five years at about $5,000.

“For what was available at the time, that was a good deal,” said Michael Thomas, director of operations for Brockton Public Schools.

The $5,000 a year is less than a grass field requires, said Kenney. The high school maintains two grass fields now for junior varsity teams, which cost $15,000 a year to maintain, and don’t support nearly the amount of usage as artificial turf.

And the fake grass doesn’t need time to recover like real grass, meaning it can be used as a practice field, soccer field and football field.

That in itself has savings, since the high school football team previously had to be bused to the Keith School and back to use the field there to practice on.

“High usage, that’s even more important than low maintenance (cost),” Kenney said. “We can have eight soccer games in here on a Saturday and eight midget football games on a Sunday.”

Dave Whaton, the New England regional sales manager for AstroTurf, a leading artificial turf manufacturer based in Georgia, said eight years is an average life span for a carpet, with 10 years being the maximum.

Whaton said the warranties for turf are still in the eight-year range, but the product itself is more durable. The grass fibers have gotten sturdier, the binding has gotten stronger, and the number of seams in the carpet have been reduced.

But the biggest improvement in the past decade, he said, is in what you can’t see: safety.

“Whether it’s hot or cold, wet or dry, the fields plays the same,” Whaton said. “The natural grass field could be like concrete if the field is frozen, while the artificial grass is going to play the same as if it’s 75 degrees.”

Whaton said the newer fibers are also designed to limit the torque experienced by players when they cut and change direction on the field.

Read more: http://www.enterprisenews.com/archive/x1510863812/Brockton-High-s-Marciano-Stadium-field-rehab-could-start-Monday#ixzz1Tu8YN3hD


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