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.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/50965
Irrigation&Drainage | Mary Helen Sprecher >> TAOS ECO PARK, Alexander Gusdorf Eco Park. Courtesy of Living Designs Group Architects, Taos, NM. Green field NE OF THE END RE- SULTS of a good athletic facility is its economic im- pact on a community. A good facil- ity can elevate a city, increasing its tourism dollars and making it a more desirable location for sports travel. It was with both of these goals, athletic and economic, in mind that the Alexander Gusdorf Eco-Park in Taos, NM was designed. The facil- ity, one of the world's highest-alti- tude FIFA Two-Star Certified training facilities, beckons world- class athletes; in fact, the Rwandan National Team spent a month at the park, training for its World Cup match. At the same time, the multi- purpose complex has never ceased to serve the youth of the community as a home for soccer, lacrosse, rugby and football. Perhaps the most interesting eco- built on brownfield O friendly aspect of the project, how- ever, is not what's on the ground now, but what used to lie beneath. The original site had been used as a landfill, causing it to be classified as a brownsfield. Yes, you read that last sentence. And yes, the completed facility is called the Eco-Park. Making that happen means that some very special design and construction work went into the project, encompassing every- thing from drainage to material sup- ply, and from layout to landscaping. Living Designs Group Architect (LDG) worked with both the town of Taos and the Taos Municipal School District to develop the facility, has completed Phase One of the three-phase complex, which includes one FIFA certified artificial turf soccer field, a restroom and storage builders, nature trails, 752-seat permanent grandstands, as well as parking areas. Remediation of the seven-acre site was a priority, but even that was performed in an earth-sensitive manner. Douglas Patterson of LDG notes the only haul-off from the site was the trash and debris from the brownsfield area (a total of 140 cubic yards), was completely repurposed on an adjoining property. The remaining hillside was re- graded and in finished construction, will provide a hillside amphitheatre-like seating area for an additional field. GREEN TOUCHES IN ALL ASPECTS OF CONSTRUCTION Some of the facility's sustainable features include arti- ficial turf with a 100% recycled rubber infill, use of na- tive plants in landscaping and recycled stormwater for Living Designs Group Architect (LDG) worked with both the town of Taos and the Taos Municipal School District to develop the facility, has completed Phase One of the three-phase complex, which includes one FIFA certified artificial turf soccer field... 38 SportsTurf | January 2012 www.sportsturfonline.com By