The citizens of Norfolk, NE passed a bond issue that will include a synthetic turf field at the Memorial Field complex that will support football and soccer programs for three local high schools.

This is a continuing discussion from an earlier post.

Concerning the turf field for Memorial Field, by selecting the engineering firm is the community then tied to a particular turf vendor? One thing we don’t want to see is a turf vendor writing the specifications and thus eliminating competitors. I highly recommend that minimum standards be used so if a vendor that cannot supply a “lower quality” product can still be considered. Also I recommend that there be an evaluation criteria that considers product/installation cost versus warranty, longevity, maintenance (cost per year). For example, a vendor that supplies a field for $600,000 that has 10 year warranty (and requires more maintenance) will be more expensive than a vendor that supplies a $690,000 field that has a 12 year warranty that requires less maintenance ($60K/yr. versus $57.5K/yr.).

Since the bond is for 20 years, most if not all turf vendors cannot provide a turf surface warranty for much more than 12 years (most are only 10 years)(although some new technology surfaces depending on traffic may hold up well beyond 12 years). So hopefully the replacement costs have been figured into the 20 year bond program.

I just learned that a particular infield product, specialized flex sand, does not need any grooming or addition material for eight years (will cost an additional $1/sq ft.) versus crumb rubber that needs multiple grooming cycles (and additional material added) during the playing seasons. This flex sand can be reused whereas crumb rubber is unlikely to be used for a subsequent replacement turf field.

The industry experts are indicating that many turf fields can be installed for about $5/sq ft, however this typically doesn’t include a complete curbing system (holds the turf at the edges of the field) that runs $50K-70K and any special drainage system around the edge of the field. Also a good rule of thumb for a combination football/soccer field is to figure on 90,000 sq ft.

I heard that a current turf field installed in New York City is hosting 500 events a year.

Will the high school booster clubs be given an opportunity to offset the cost of installing schools logos on the field? I could see local businesses helping to support such a customized field appearance. Has the City’s “branding study” been completed? If so has a City Logo been selected so that it could be potentially added to the end zone areas? (Could you see putting the community’s name sake in the end zone or “Veterans Field”?)