Official FieldTurf Release

[ZiggyZoomba]

Because the other thread is ugly and unwieldy....

Bowling Green State University Assistant Vice President/Director of Athletics Greg Christopher has announced the department will replace the 41-year old natural grass playing field at Doyt L. Perry Stadium with the synthetic grass surface, FieldTurf in time for the 2007 season. Cost of the project is expected to be $966,000.

"We have been in discussions for several months about the future of our playing surface at Perry Stadium," said Christopher. "FieldTurf is a product that our players and coaches have a great deal of confidence in. The new surface also benefits BGSU on two fronts: it allows us greater flexibility with the stadium, meaning many of our teams can practice on the surface and Perry Stadium can host more events which helps the department generate new revenues. Secondly, we expect to see cost savings over time related to maintenance of the old surface."

BGSU is among the many Universities and professional organizations that have chosen FieldTurf as its playing surface over the past eight years. BGSU will be the 29th NCAA Division IA school and sixth in the MAC to have FieldTurf installed in their home football stadium.

"We have long prided ourselves regarding the grass surface at Perry Stadium and it has served us well over the last 41 years," said Christopher. "The surface itself, which has never been replaced, is in outstanding shape and will be used at other facilities on campus. Our concern is with the condition of the existing drainage system, which also was installed in 1966, and we believe this change best serves the interests of our program."

"I would like to thank Jim Elsasser (Assistant Athletic Director for Internal Operations) and others for their work in leading to this decision," added Christopher. "Jim led a cross-campus team on a process that looked at all of our options related to fixing the Doyt's playing surface. As we examined the various choices, FieldTurf stood out as the best solution."

[Dayons_Den]

Will they be selling pieces of the sod? Talk about a minimal overhead fund raiser- how cool would it be to integrate a piece of Falcon Football history in your own yard!!!???

[orangeandbrown]

I think they are using the sod on other fields. It has been clear they were going to Field Turf for a few months, I am glad they just announced it.

[Class of 61]

DD,
Not a bad idea...re: a "piece" of the Doyt in my front (or back yard).... FWIW, I got a call yesterday, from the AD, thanking me for my season tix renewal and asking if I had any questions.... #1 from me was "will we be getting FIELDTURF?" and the answer was a definite YES...I know hambb had taken some pix showing the stripped off turf...but it was verified that the biggest concern was the irrigation and drainage system, which had been guartanteed for 20 yrs. and had lasted 40...but was failing in several places.

My only other quest. was re: the "upgrade" deal on season tix.... my upgrade would involve getting chairback seats, but not necessarily on the 50 yrd.line where my current seats are located... didn't want to get separated from the Goodmans and Freak etc., so I declined the upgrade. 8)

[Zom]

"....the department will replace the 41-year old natural grass playing field at Doyt L. Perry Stadium with the synthetic grass surface, FieldTurf in time for the 2007 season. "

The king is dead. Long live the king!

[redskins4ever]

Just go steal the sod, and make a donation to the athletic department.

[1987alum]

Glad it's out there officially.

[Flipper]

Glad to see we went with the market leader an not some Walmartesque knock off. That's a good sign for future projects down the road...

[Falcon30]

Glad to see we went with the market leader an not some Walmartesque knock off. That's a good sign for future projects down the road...

*cough* Toledo *cough*

I agree with that 100% If they were going with some knockoff brand, mud would have been better.

[Zom]

Did somebody say "Toledo"?

[Falcon30]

Did somebody say "Toledo"?

You're hearing things 8)

[WBBFAN]

What constitutes the surface? My back still hurts from replacing the sod on the field twice in the late 70's working at the stadium, summers for Ken Schoeni!

Great news on a new turf!

[TG1996]

What constitutes the surface? My back still hurts from replacing the sod on the field twice in the late 70's working at the stadium, summers for Ken Schoeni!

Great news on a new turf!

http://www.fieldturf.com/product/designConstruction.cfm

[Falconfreak90]

I am glad its out in the open as well. Still haven't gotten my season tix renewal form but hey, who am I? LOL!

Can't wait to see the new turf!

Less than 120 days...

[NWLB]

They say they'll use the turf for the outfield of the baseball and software fields, which figures to be a very good thing.

My question remains, what is to become of the practice fields to the north-east of the stadium? Do they practice on natural grass for games on such fields, and thus keep them, or some of them? Do they fully integrate the entire team into the stadium and use just one field?

Does it make sense to consider building more parking space where the practice fields are?

Could we do something really nice, such as use the turf there to replace the Crabturf we seem to have all over the main campus? You could resod a huge swath of the campus with that stuff, and its of a far better grade of grass.