Marshall University Athletics
Joan C. Edwards FieldTurf Installation On Schedule
7/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Joan C. Edwards FieldTurf Installation On Schedule
7/27/2005
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The installation of the new Joan C. Edwards FieldTurf playing surface will be ready for the first day of football practice on August 3rd. |
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - The renovation of the Joan C. Edwards Stadium playing surface is now into the installation phase, as of July 13th. FieldTurf, which is currently in use in more than 30 NCAA Division 1-A football stadiums including Nebraska, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oregon, Washington, Kansas State, Boston College, Louisville and Missouri, will be the new surface of the Thundering Herd when fall practice begins on August 3rd.
?The turf came in on Tuesday morning and we?re going through the process of laying the turf now," said Marshall Associate Athletic Director for Facilities and Game Management Scott Morehouse. "There are two crews from Ballard?s Sports (Cary, N.C.) working on it, and it will be ready by the time the team begins practice on August 3rd."
Joan C. Edwards Stadium opened in 1991 and has a current seating capacity of 38,016. It has been the site of multiple Mid-American Conference title games, and also hosted the NCAA Division 1-AA national championship game from 1991-96. The new FieldTurf replaces an Astroturf surface that had been in place since 1998.
Crews have already removed the old surface at Joan C. Edwards Stadium and prepared the ground for the installation of the new FieldTurf. The total cost of the project is $855,000.
?The job is on schedule and everything is progressing very well,? Fitz Ballard, Vice President of Ballard Sports said. ?We have done a number of these installations and we have a strong crew there now.?
In addition to its growing popularity in the college ranks, FieldTurf has already established itself as the turf of choice in the National Football League. Twenty-two of the NFL?s 32 teams currently use FieldTurf at their stadiums and/or their practice facilities. Also, three Major League Baseball teams are using FieldTurf at their stadiums in 2005. FieldTurf was also the first artificial turf product approved by FIFA (soccer?s world governing body) for World Cup play.
The NFL Players Association recently conducted a survey of all NFL players who were asked to rank the league?s 32 stadium fields on a variety of factors, such as playability, safety, etc. The NFL players ranked FieldTurf fifth out of 32, and amazingly, NFL players rated FieldTurf ahead of 15 of the league?s 19 natural grass fields.
FieldTurf is the result of years of research - evident in the patented FieldTurf infill mix of silica sand and cryogenic rubber and patented layering process that deliver a system that emulates natural grass. Additional benefits are found in improved player safety, reduced maintenance costs and flexibility for conversion - allowing stadium managers to quickly change the field from one sport to another or to easily host a variety of sporting events, concerts and other special events directly on top of the FieldTurf surface.
