The new artificial turf field being installed next to the Student Recreation Center is finally near completion after two months of delays. Officials said it may be accessible to students as early as Dec. 1 if the weather continues to hold.
The $1.3 million project, which was originally scheduled to be completed in time for use at the start of fall term, is almost entirely funded by the University Athletic Department as a gift to students and a practice center for the Oregon Marching Band.
The turf timeline was hindered by a lighting problem, improper materials, bad weather and heavy student traffic. Various contractors, under the supervision of engineering firm Balzhiser & Hubbard, absorbed the cost of delays and eliminated extra University spending. Workers for NexTurf are now pressure-washing the old paint off the turf surface, trimming and pasting the material down and putting final touches on the project.
The field would have been ready for use as soon as October if not for a number of delays that forced back the
project, Physical Activity and Recreation Services Director Dennis Munroe said. First, one of the six huge lights that illuminates the area at night was partially blocked by the Hayward Field grandstands directly to the east. Although a new, more compatible light pole came several weeks later, the construction equipment needed to install the new system temporarily stopped all other work because it would have damaged the field.
Another delay was a problem with the top layer of gravel, Balzhiser & Hubbard engineer Monica Anderson said. NexTurf fields are designed to drain an incredible amount of water in a matter of minutes, but the rocks that help stabilize the turf weren’t the right size and created a drainage problem.
“It must have been 75 dump trucks full of gravel before they figured it out,” Munroe said.
By the time the problems were solved, the project had been delayed beyond the start of school. Contractors had to hire security guards and extra employees to try to keep students off the sensitive construction area.
“You could stand there and talk to people, and they still would walk right through,” Munroe said, adding that there are still some bicycle treadmarks on the side of the field.
Then the rain came. The glues that adhere the turf to the rubbery surface underneath don’t work when moisture is in the air. In fact, the recent dry weather is the only thing that’s keeping the project moving toward a December completion date.
Almost one year ago, Munroe approached the Athletic Department and asked them if PARS could buy the department’s old turf. Athletic Department officials originally declined, but when they finally decided to permanently replace NexTurf with a new material, the department not only decided to donate the NexTurf to PARS, but to install it for them, too.
“What they ended up offering to us was a gift to build the entire field,” Munroe said.
The new field will be used for OMB, men’s and women’s soccer and lacrosse and individual student use. Like the older synthetic turf field directly north of the new one, the area will be open for anyone to use when scheduled activities aren’t in session. The large overhead lights will allow the field to stay open from when it first gets light in the morning until 11 p.m. most days.