SportsTurf

March 2015

SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.

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www.stma.org March 2015 | SportsTurf 35 town report healthy hotel and restaurant bookings as a result of the soccer events. What does it take to keep this high-demand park in great condition? The synthetic fields feature Sprinturf CoolFill infill, which reduces surface temperatures up to 30 percent when used with green granules. CoolFill provides an alternative to traditional black crumb rubber infill and comes in a variety of colors that "feel" cooler while also complementing the color of the turf system fibers. The safer playing surface and green colorant provides a real- istic and aesthetically pleasing field that is UV-resistant, while reducing the temperature on the playing surface. "By specifying CoolFill, we anticipate the green coating will knock a few degrees off the field temperature during games played in the heat of July, August and September," said Houx. "The grass blades were specified to be 3/8" between tufts and 3/8" between rows, which is more densely packed than standard ¾" blades, and this helps to lower the field temperature and make the grass look more real." The synthetic fields are groomed once or twice a week, depending on use, with a Greens Groomer Litter Kat synthetic turf sweeper and Spring Tine rake. An important part of the maintenance is a weekly wash down by Mirage M-160 sprinklers from Underhill International. The M-160 sprinklers have a 174-foot throwing radius. At Grogan Park the M-160s run for five minutes per station, or 30 minutes to wash down the entire field. Known as "piston-driven water cannons," M-160s are installed at grade and disappear when retracted. They provide full or part-circle coverage. "At Grogan Park, six heads were installed on the sidelines of each synthetic field," said Derek McKee, principal at Verde Design. "They were placed completely out of the area of play for safety reasons. Four heads on each field are set for 90° of coverage and two heads are set for 180° of coverage. "The high volume of water does a good job of scrubbing down the fields." Underhill's M-160 measures 23.7 inches high and has an above-grade pop-up height of 2 ¾ inches. The arc of coverage can be adjusted from 30º to 360º and the rotation speed from 100 to 240 seconds. The head has a 23º trajectory, and a range of nozzles from 16 mm to 26 mm is available for efficient water distribution. The M-160 operates at 60 to 120 psi and handles from 96 to 300 gallons per minute. Grogan Park draws water from an on-site well. Because the M-160s run at 140 psi, a booster pump was installed to maintain consistent water pressure. When the park first opened, facility staff found that well water particulates were clogging the filters. By stepping up the maintenance program and cleaning the filters about every six months, the problem was easily resolved. "Another plus is that the M-160s help reduce static on the fields," said Houx. "Polyethylene turf can create static, especially when it is hot and dry. Once the fields are wetted down, the static disappears and players don't experience 'shocking' during the games." O'Brien says that last year's World Cup generated huge inter- est in soccer among youngsters and parents. "It's a wonderful sport that doesn't require a lot of equipment or expense to play . . . and enthusiasts of all ages have a chance to participate. "The city found it fitting to name the park after Mary Grogan, who was director of the Parks and Recreation Department in Modesto for 29 years. She was a driving force in creating 75 parks in the city and largely responsible for Modesto's reputation as the 'City of Trees' with more than 300,000 trees. She was also a leader in the California Parks and Recreation Society and served as president. Mary passed away in 2010 . . . I think she would have been very pleased with her new park." ■ ST

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