Slideshow: turf installation at McMurray Field in St. Paul
I spent an hour last Friday watching and snapping pictures of the Field Turf installation at McMurray Field in the Como Park neighborhood of St. Paul. These fields were in desperate need of an overhaul; I have suffered a few scuffed knees and twisted ankles from tripping over pieces of concrete and rocks while playing on the old surfaces. The area is still littered with broken glass and sundry pieces of trash but I’m (stupidly) hoping that the new construction leads to a greater sense of civic responsibility.
Kudos to Mayor Chris Coleman and his staff. Whether or not the Minnesota Thunder build a new stadium in St. Paul, this is a huge step forward in terms of the city’s commitment to soccer. Here is a description of the project from the St. Paul Parks and Recreation Department:
In mid October 2006 work began to transform two existing grass soccer fields and one softball field into three ultra modern synthetic turf soccer fields. The synthetic turf chosen is from Field Turf of Montreal, Canada and is the same type of turf you will see at some large facilties around the area such as Macalester College and the University of St. Thomas. Field Turf has designed the new soccer fields so they will drain quickly after major rainfalls.
The soccer fields will be as big as the existing space allows and have permanent soccer markings. New soccer goals and player benches are also planned. If funding allows, the existing baseball field adjacent to the new soccer fields with be fenced to provide some separation of the activities. It is anticipated that new turf fields will be ready for play early summer 2007.
The installation is being completed by TTI Sports, a St. Louis, MO company that specializes in artificial turf projects. The day I was there, they were putting the finishing touches on one of the fields by scattering the little rubber pieces that make the field softer. They were also laying down the turf for a second field. It was really quite a process to witness.
Below you’ll see a slideshow of the pictures I took.
5 comments
Wow! I had no idea this particular part of the mayors agenda was already getting worked on. I live a half mile from there and go past Lexington almost every day without knowing what was happening. I spent a good deal of time fighting for those fields before the original fields were laid with the shoddy construction. This is very cool. Thanks for the update Josh. I will take a drive past there today.
It is great to know that the City is finally doing something about the soccer pitches. Practicing on those fields as a youngster was quite a challenge. Next time I am in the Cities, I will stop by and see the finished work.
The fields are fantastic but the work is not finished. The dirt surrounding the fields turn to mud when it rains or the sprinkling systems (for the baseball field) is running. The mud then is tracked onto the turf by players or oozes onto it because it was never graded properly.
Dolf: I just played there last week, and even though it was dry, I can see that mud would be an issue.
Hopefully, they’ll clean that up as part of a phase two development.
hope its better then the turf at Augsburg
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