The Bear's 1988 season will provide an excellent co",paris~rlJJetween natural and artificial turf.

The Battle for Natural Turf At Chicago's Soldier Field

he talk at the Chicago Bears' training fall. A watering ban has made irrigating the Wrigley Field. The original carpet was camp this summer was not about fresh sod a subject of controversy. replaced in 1979 before Monsanto deve- TRefrigerator Perry's weight or Jim It's ironic to think that too much water was loped AstroTurf 8, a drain-through combi- McMahon's shoulder. Instead, the coaches one of the major reasons the PAT System nation of porous carpet, pad and asphalt and the players were "really excited" about was selected, says Roger Bossard, consul- base. Rain and melting snow had to run off playing their first home game on natural turf tant to the park district for the project and the field to collector drains located on the since 1970, says Ken Mrock, the Bears' head head groundskeeper for the White Sox. perimeter. groundskeeper. Soldier Field is just a few blocks from Being a public agency, the Chicago Park After two years of negotiations between blustery Lake Michigan. "A strong wind out District had to establish specifications and the Bears and the Chicago Park District, of the northeast can raise the level of the take bids from all qualified contractors. It the team got what it wanted, natural turf in lake as much as 15 inches and push the took nearly a year to identify all the changes Soldier Field. "The park district and Turf- water table up with it." In the past, lake water that needed to be made at Soldier Field and grass Services Inc. really deserve a lot of has backed up into the storm drains blocking to hammer out the specifications. The bid- , praise for pulling this off," says Mrock, the the runoff from the field. ding process didn't start until this past winter, former superintendent of golf courses for "A professional football field has to remove just months before the Bears' exhibition the park district. It took tremendous effort rain almost as fast as it falls," Bossard adds. game. , by many people to work out all the details "With only ten home games, the team and Not to be left out, AstroTurf Industries and and get the PAT (Prescription Athletic Turf) the stadium can't afford a flood. It was impor- Sportec International made their own field installed in time for the exhibition game tant to separate the field drainage from the proposals to the park district. AstroTurf was .with the Miami Dolphins on August 6. But, storm sewers and the water table. The plas- proposing its drain-through system and they did it and everyone in the National Foot- tic liner of the PAT System let us do that." Sportec its sand-filled artificial OmniTurf. ball League will be watching this fall to see For Mrock, Bossard and park district per- The Bears, represented by Tim Lefever, if natural turf really makes a difference. sonnel, the story began in the fall of 1986. made it clear at numerous hearings that they The Bears' 1988 season will provide an Bears' owner Michael McCaskey and Coach wanted a PAT System. excellent comparison of the two surfaces. Mike Ditka made it clear they wanted "to David Heiss, president of Turf Services In previous seasons they played an aver- play on real green grass." They hinted Inc. of Spring Lake, MI, the licensed PAT age of only five games on natural turf. This strongly that they would build another installer for the region, nevertheless under- 'year they will play 12 plus three preseason stadium in the city if they had to. Jesse Madi- stood that artificial turf companies were for- games on real grass. "Fifteen out of 20 son, executive vice president of the park midable competitors. He still had to win a games this year will be on natural turf, district, who is responsible for Soldier Field price battle. "We weren't just fighting for PAT, instead of four or five," says Mrock. in addition to the city's golf courses, parks we were fighting for natural turf," states The players won't get to step onto the new and gardens, took the threat seriously and Heiss. field until the day before the Miami game. assigned the project to Director of Land- One item that Heiss and PAT's Dr. Wil- The Kentucky bluegrass sod has been down scaping Ira Berk. Berk called in architect liam Daniel and Laurel Meade wanted to only six weeks, six of the hottest and dryest Bob Megquir and Mrock from his staff and include was field heating. A number of Euro- weeks in Chicago history. The city has had hired Bossard as a consultant. pean stadiums and Mile High Stadium in a record five days of 100 degree plus tem- AstroTurf was first installed in Soldier Field Denver, CO, have heating grids buried about peratures and is behind ten inches in rain- in 1971 when the Bears moved over from continued on page 24 22 sportsTURF sand," explains Bill Huber. "We grow a lot of Penncross bentgrass sad in the sand to eliminate soil interface problems on sand- based greens." In the fall of 1986, Huber planted part of his 760-acre farm with a blend of Adelphi, Baron, Glade, Parade and Rugby Kentucky bluegrasses. "We are fortunate to have two spring-fed lakes to supply our irrigation sys- tem so our sad never lacked water. When Dave called up, I told him we had just what he needed." The sad part of the Soldier Field story was strengthened further by Jim Walsh, presi- dent of Sportsfields Inc., who Heiss hired to lay the sad. Walsh had worked for Ben and Bob Warren for eight years at Warren Drainage/subirrigation lines are set in trenches on top of the moisture barrier. Turf Nurseries. Walsh also knew chemicals from two years as a professional turf The Battle for Natural Turf cert so the sad could be laid immediately representative for Lebanon Chemical Co. continued from page 22 after. Fortunately for Heiss, the concert was While Heiss concentrated on construction eight inches below the turf surface to warm cancelled. at Soldier Field, Walsh coordinated prepa- the soil. Electric or hot fluid systems melt In April, the park district removed the old ration of the sad. That included applications snow and keep the ground from freezing. surface and started excavation. The final of Alliete for Pythium control, Proxol for insect This option would cost an estimated grade of the new field would be just three control and Agri-Plex to provide the sad with $150,000 to $200,000 and raise the price feet above the average level of Lake Michi- iron and micronutrients. of the PAT System by more than 30 per- gan. Park engineers decided to build a low Heiss, Walsh and Bossard worked closely cent, explained Meade. The combination wall around the field to serve as a dike. together so that maintenance of the sad after of heating and controlled drainage would With only three months to go before the installation would be flawless. In the mean- provide the ultimate in natural winter turf. first game, Heiss moved his crews and time, the drain lines were being installed. Lefever surprised the park district and the equipment onto the field. The first order of They aren't just drain lines, they are two- PAT team by suggesting that installation business was to make the subgrade per- way conduits between the field soil and a of the heating system be delayed. The heat- fectly flat. Once this was achieved, the field water control station. Moisture sensors ing system was shelved and the bid sub- was divided into four separate drainage sec- buried at various depths in each section of mitted without it. "I hope the heating sys- tions, two for the playing area and two on the field electronically report to a central tem can be installed in the future," says the perimeter. A network of trenches were control station. By setting moisture levels Mrock. dug in each section for the perforated drain for specific depths, water is pumped into The final hurdle Heiss had to clear was pipe. But before the pipe was installed, the or out of the field through the drain lines. the lack of competition to bid against for entire subgrade and trenches were lined This subirrigation/drainage system can suck constructing a natural turf field to the city's with a plastic water barrier. The result was water out of the field as fast as rain can fall specifications. In late February, the park dis- a two-acre bath tub about one foot deep. or fill it like a bathtub. By controlling the depth trict board voted to allow a single bid for Heiss and Daniel visited area sad farms and amount of moisture, the sports turf the PAT system. Heiss waited nervously for in search of sad grown on sandy soil. They manager can put water in the root zone while more than a month for final details to be had heard the drought was forcing some keeping the playing surface firm and dry. resolved and contracts to be signed. He sad growers to cut back on water. "We had The heart of the system is a sealed con- wanted to give the sad ten weeks to knit to have healthy, established sad grown in crete tank. This air-tight tank holds 200 cubic with the soil. sandy soil so it would take root as fast as feet of air in the upper portion and 400 cubic To complicate matters further, Pink Floyd possible," says Heiss. They found what they feet of water in the bottom. The main drains was scheduled to perform at Soldier Field wanted 50 miles away at Huber Ranch Sad are connected to the tank. Inside the tank on May 20. Heiss was not going to risk hav- Nursery in Schneider, IN. It was a blend of are two four-inch submersible pumps capa- ing thousands of rock fans trample the new five improved Kentucky bluegrasses growing ble of expelling 700 gpm. There is also an sad. All the drainage, irrigation and soil work in sandy riverbottom soil near the Kankakee air suction pump. The combined suction of would have to be completed before the con- River. "Our soil on the farm is 75 percent the air pump and the sump pumps can remove more than 2,000 gpm from the field. As Heiss arranged for delivery of more than 8,000 tons of sand, Mueller Mist installed the Taro irrigation system. Surface irrigation was not part of the original PAT System design. Subirrigation was the sale source of water when the system was first created more than 20 years ago. But experience has shown Daniel and Meade that it can save the day on many occasions. Sports turf managers are accustomed to sur- face irrigation and a sand field can be very thirsty when the pumps are down. As things turned out, there wouldn't have been natural turf in Soldier Field this month if it weren't for the Taro system. The pumps were not up and running until the end of July. Access to the stadium added to the pres- Temperatures soared during the three days the sod was installed. sure of the job. Four out of six lanes on the 24 sportsTURF Dan Ryan Expressway were closed for con- really watched the seams." struction. The trucks had to use Lakeshore Each night Huber would cut the sod and Drive and they weren't allowed on that deliver it to the stadium before dawn. As between 6 am and 3 pm. Noise ordinances the sun rose the pallets were already in posi- prevented nightime delivers to narrow the tion on the field. On the third day the remain- window even further. When the trucks did ing 3,000 yards were laid. Looking over the arrive they could not fit through the one tun- completed field, the exhausted crew knew nel to the field. Smaller shuttle trucks had they had accomplished something spectacu- to carry the sand from the large trucks onto lar. The brilliant green surface was a stark the field. contrast to the faded artificial surface of a Another challenge was only union crews few weeks before. The stadium itself was could work at the stadium. Heiss wasn't brighter with blue, yellow and orange seats, about to risk delays caused by union unrest. new paint and 50 new loges on the South Walsh contacted Tom Koch of Koch & Son, end. The new color highlighted the Grecian a Chicago landscape contractor who Laurel Meade, Roger Bossard and David columns atop the stands on both sides of provided more than 15 union laborers at crit- Heiss (I. to r.), the field. "You wouldn't think this stadium ical times. was built back in the '30s," remarked Meade. By the middle of June, the sand was in the field by forklifts with turf tires. Pallets The temperature still hovered in the '90s. place. Peat and calcined clay (Turface) were were spotted at locations marked by Walsh. Bossard, Walsh and Heiss were concerned worked into the top few inches of sand. The Starting on a line down the center of the that the heat would shock the turf and keep surface was fine-graded to be as flat as a field the crew began to lay the sod. They it from rooting as rapidly as possible. "Once pool table. Four two-inch hoses were used were followed closely by one person with turf starts wilting and turning blue it takes to wet down the soil in preparation for deliv- a roller and another with a hose. As each six to eight days just to get it going again," ery of the sod. section was finished, the Toro 640 heads Bossard pointed out. "We couldn't afford At 11 pm on Sunday, June 19, the sod were installed and the particular stations that. We didn't have any choice. We had harvesters at Huber Ranch were fired up were turned on. to keep the water on. The local media and started cutting the Kentucky bluegrass The first day Walsh and his crew laid 3,075 jumped on us because we were irrigating with a third of an inch of soil. By 2:30 am, square yards of sod. The temperature every day when everybody else in the city the trucks were loaded and on their way to soared to 104 degrees, but there was no was under a water ban." Chicago 50 miles away. stopping. The procedure was repeated the For the next three weeks Bossard Walsh and his crew were there at the next day with 4,200 square yards. "The guys checked the root depth of the field nearly stadium when the trucks started arriving. could see the field taking shape with each every day. "The goal was to get the feeder Again, the trucks could not fit through the roll," recalls Walsh. "They weren't used to roots down at least three inches and the tunnel so each pallet of sod was carried onto that kind of heat, but they worked fast and continued on page 26

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Circle 104 on Postage Free Card Circle 105 on Postage Free Card August, 1988 25 The Battle for Natural Turf and brushed into the core holes. "Basically, in Madison, WI. The paint had to be custom- continued from page 25 the topdressing stabilizes the sod by mak- blended to exact specifications. hair roots spread throughout the top inch," ing it heavier," stated Bossard. "It also fills In the meantime, Elliott flew to Chicago said Bossard. He applied Scotts High K and in any seams or spots that settled. The clay to survey the field. As soon as the locations Fairway fertilizers. He also sprayed Agriplex particles absorb their weight in water and of the goal posts were spotted, footers were every week. "Normally you wouldn't push hold it longer than straight sand does." installed. The end zones, yard lines, hash turf this hard, especially in the heat, but we There were many other details to take care marks and sidelines were carefully set. On had no choice," Bossard said. "We had of before the Bears and the Dolphins could July 22, the Kentucky bluegrass turf at Sold- Aliette and Subdue ready to go at the first play on August 6. The field had to be sur- ier Field became the canvas for Elliott and sign of Pythium, but the wind off the lake veyed from scratch. Templates for the team the park district crew. The field was painted must have kept humidity down." logos, NFL symbol and numbers had to be as if the opening game was the next day. By mid-July, Bossard decided it was time ordered. Turf paint in all the special team "It's hard to describe how I felt when the to stop babying the turf. He started cutting colors and white had to be ordered. And painters finished," says Heiss. "I walked way back the irrigation cycles while watching the the park district crew had to be trained to up into the seats and just stared at the field turf for signs of wilt. The roots had to search paint natural turf as opposed to artificial. for ten minutes. From the top row you look deeper for water. This process would have Ira Berk wanted Soldier Field to look as one way and see the Chicago skyline. Look been easier with the subirrigation system, good as the Super Bowl. So he called the the other way and you see the marina and but work on the water pit and pumping sta- same person George Toma calls for the the runway at Meigs Field. Alii could think tion was not yet completed. Super Bowl, Larry Elliot, vice president of of was what a great stadium Soldier Field Ten days later, the field was aerified to Missouri Paint Supply in Kansas City. Elliott is ... AND now it's natural turf!" create channels in the soil for root penetra- proceeded to order the templates from his After 22 years at Comiskey Park, Bos- tion, something not generally recommended supplier of more than eight years, Calvin sard strongly believes that natural turf is the in hot weather. Sixty-five tons of sand and Autry, owner of Calvin Sign in Kansas City. best surface for outdoor stadiums. "I've calcined clay were topdressed over the sod Next he sent color swatches to Mautz Paint managed both in my time (Comiskey had artificial turf from 1968 to 1975) and natural turf is the only way to go." The new stadium to be built next to Comiskey for the White Sox will also be natural turf. PARTAC® Two big challenges remain for the COLFCOURSE BOTH Chicago Park District. The first is to hire a TOP-DRESSING AVAILABLE IN head groundskeeper that understands the BULK OR BAGS PAT System. The city is lucky to have Bos- CALL TOLL FREE: sard and Mrock nearby for their advice. "The 1-800-247-BEAM biggest problem we have today with PAT IN N.). fields," says Meade, "is maintenance after 201-637-4191 installation. Stadium owners have to real- THE PROFESSIONAL'S CHOICE ize that maintenance is no simple matter. PARTAC PEAT ... SINCE 1922 ",\~~,~\~A~I~I I. Y/!AIWff/,J1fYif,r.'Qf CORPORATION We're not just talking about mowing and KELSEY PARK BEAM CLAY IS THE RED AMERICA'S PREMIUM GREAT MEADOWS,N.J. BASEBALL MIX USED BY marking the field. We're talking about a sand TOP-DRESSING 07838 PROFESSIONAL TEAMS ACROSS rootzone with a sophisticated drainage and HEAT TREATED THE U.S.A. AND CANADA. irrigation system. These things require SPECIAL MIXES FOR PITCHER'S CONTROL THATCH, MOUNDS, HOMEPLATE AREAS skilled, experienced management. To get PROMOTE HEALTHY TURF & WARNING TRACKS. someone like that, you have to be selec- & SMOOTH PLAYING SURFACES tive and pay them accordingly." Circle 125 on Postage Free Card The second big challenge is field heat- ing. "Football is tougher than baseball," explains Bossard. "Grass wants to grow dur- ing the baseball season, but doesn't dur- MISSOURI PAINT SUPPL V ing the end of football season." "The Bears have games November 27 5818 Troost and December 11," says Mrock. "We used Kansas City, Missouri 64110 to put tarps over the AstroTurf and blow heat (816) 333-1272 under them to keep the surface from freez- ing. The same has been tried successfully Outside Missouri call toll free 1-800-426-0774 on natural turf. Eventually, all stadiums SPORTS TURF located in the North will have to address COATINGS field heating. It has to be a lot cheaper than building domed stadiums." At the present National, International Sales time, Mile High Stadium in Denver is the Complete line of Natural and only PAT field with a heating system. Artificial Turf Paints "We learn something new with each instal- Spray Equipment & Accessories lation," says Dr. Bill Daniel, who invented the system at Purdue University. "The more Member STMA fields we install, the more we learn. We know that adequate infiltration, percolation and You have seen Mautz 8-30 for many years on Super Bowls, the Pro Bowls, subdrainage along with moisture control, numerous NFL stadiums and universities and now available world-wide from make it possible to provide and maintain MISSOURI PAINT SUPPL Y a durable turfgrass cover that allows max- contact imum use. That's the real name of the game Brightest whites and sharpest matches to team colors today and that is what will preserve natural LARRY E. ELLIOTT turf as the ultimate sports surface in the Vice President future." ~ 26 sportsTURF Circle 124 on Postage Free Card