August 21, 1999

Field Turf installed at stadium

By Dave Feltner
Sports Editor

It is the jewel of the $2 million stadium renovation project that has people lined up along Union Street to get a glimpse.

Only time will tell, but the new Field Turf being installed at Frost-Kalnow Stadium just may become the wave of the future for athletic surfaces.

Thanks to a private effort to refurbish the stadium, residents of the area will now have a beacon to center its community pride.

Field Turf, with virtually no maintenance, and benefits that even outweigh natural turf, will be on display locally for years to come.

"It's really a community pride thing," said Tom Anway, buildings and grounds supervisor of Tiffin City Schools. "It's the kind of project the whole community can take pride in. I really hope that this provides a foundation for future projects involving the school."

The turf, which is to be completed by Tuesday or Thursday, is the brainchild of Resilient Surface Materials Inc. (Safeturf International) of Canton. The company gave birth to the product two years ago, and has installed it at Canton Central Catholic, Warren, Pa., Charlotte, N.C., and has contracted another facility in Northern Ohio, which will include instillation of a baseball field.

"The schools have been giving us rave reviews (of the turf)," said Paul Lioi, owner of Resilient Surface Materials. "The best thing (about the field) is that we use a 100 percent rubber in-fill &emdash; there's about 25,000 used tires on this field &emdash; and the rubber allows the athlete to have the advantages of natural turf."

It is worth pointing out that Field Turf is a synthetic surface, but is designed to mimic natural turf. It is nothing like AstroTurf or other carpeted surfaces.

The blades of grass are tufts of two-inch high synthetic grass, not flat like other artificial turfs. The field is then filled with an inch-high layer of rubber, which eliminates locking of leg joints, cutting down on injuries.

Most artificial surfaces are packed down with abrasive sand, making athletes susceptible to burns and scrapes. The rubber on Field Turf allows a person to slide in shorts and come up virtually unscathed.

"This field has a three G-max energy absorption, which means the shifting at the bottom end of the turf is slightly better than natural turf," Lioi said. "And because the in-fill is 100 percent rubber, the field won't compact over time."

Also, because the field will be so much like a natural surface, football and soccer players can wear their regular cleats.

"Soccer players really love this surface because it gives you a natural roll," Lioi said.

The field also has millions of tiny holes at the bottom to allow for massive water drainage. Lioi cited one incident at Canton Central Catholic last year when the field took on three inches of rain in an afternoon. Within 15 minutes, the team was practicing on a dry field.

"It's a great product," said Ivan Couto, an installer of the local field who has installed virtually all kinds of athletic surfaces. "It's very durable, and you're not going to get anything closer to a real surface than this. I consider this to be the new generation of athletic fields. The athletes won't get burns, and it lasts a whole lot longer than AstroTurf."

The turf, which cost $650,000, comes with a 10-year warranty, one that will definitely be put to the test here.

The field will play host to the Columbian, Calvert, Tiffin University and Heidelberg football teams, along with junior varsity and junior high football and Calvert and Columbian soccer.

Lioi, however, stands by his product.

"The facility in North Carolina was being used 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and we've had no problems," he said.

The big question surrounding the community as of late doesn't have to deal with the surface's durability. People simply want to know if the project will be done in time for Columbian's season opener against Fostoria this Friday.

Lioi says that is a definite "yes." The field, end zone to end zone, including the sidelines, will be laid by the end of the weekend. And Tuesday, the in-fill will be installed.

By Thursday, the Tornadoes will be cleared to practice on the field.

"It's been hectic and worrisome, but honestly, I have to say I've never had a doubt they'd be finished with the project on time," Anway said. "These guys have been working 12-hour shifts to get this done. And the Trisco Company, who resurfaced the stands, sometimes worked 24-hour shifts. So there's been a lot of effort put forth to get this job done."