Faking It: Schools Installing Artificial Turf
Drought Makes It Tough To Keep Up Athletic Fields
POSTED: 1:29 p.m. MST January 8, 2003
UPDATED: 12:51 p.m. MST January 9, 2003
DENVER -- During this time of drought worries and water restrictions, what can be done to allow kids to keep playing during the spring and summer without ruining athletic fields? Schools from Douglas County to Boulder County say that the answer is to go artificial.
At Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, synthetic turf if being installed because there's not enough water for real turf.
Things were so bad in Lafayette last summer that residents were only allowed to water their lawns once a week, but now this new fake stuff won't need any water.
It was the only immediate option, school officials said.
"We decided to go with this type of field because we were very limited in what we were able to do in terms of water for our campus," said the school's athletic director Peter Chandler. "We can use it 24 hours a day."
American Civil Constructors, the company that installed the real grass at Coors Field said more schools are asking about it.
"It's really not been something viable for the school districts until recently. And the higher the drought pressure becomes, certainly the more viable this type of field becomes for those districts," said Dean Murphy of American Civil Constructors.
"These fields literally get better every time you use them. They get better with age," said sports facility coordinator John Schendler.
The synthetic grass is like a carpet but it's filled with crushed rubber, which gives it the soft grassy feel, 7NEWS reported. The more it's used, the more the fibers split, looking more and more like real grass.
Schools aren't the only ones asking about it.
"There are some municipalities even in the metro Denver area that are inquiring about median use for synthetic turf because it's non-irrigated and conserves water," Murphy said.
On Tuesday night, the Aurora School Board voted to install synthetic turf at Hinkley High School. By 2005, all the high schools in Douglas County will have the fake stuff, 7NEWS reported.
Boulder Valley is also considering that option.
At Peak to Peak Charter School in Lafayette, synthetic turf if being installed because there's not enough water for real turf.
Things were so bad in Lafayette last summer that residents were only allowed to water their lawns once a week, but now this new fake stuff won't need any water.
It was the only immediate option, school officials said.
"We decided to go with this type of field because we were very limited in what we were able to do in terms of water for our campus," said the school's athletic director Peter Chandler. "We can use it 24 hours a day."
American Civil Constructors, the company that installed the real grass at Coors Field said more schools are asking about it.
"It's really not been something viable for the school districts until recently. And the higher the drought pressure becomes, certainly the more viable this type of field becomes for those districts," said Dean Murphy of American Civil Constructors.
"These fields literally get better every time you use them. They get better with age," said sports facility coordinator John Schendler.
The synthetic grass is like a carpet but it's filled with crushed rubber, which gives it the soft grassy feel, 7NEWS reported. The more it's used, the more the fibers split, looking more and more like real grass.
Schools aren't the only ones asking about it.
"There are some municipalities even in the metro Denver area that are inquiring about median use for synthetic turf because it's non-irrigated and conserves water," Murphy said.
On Tuesday night, the Aurora School Board voted to install synthetic turf at Hinkley High School. By 2005, all the high schools in Douglas County will have the fake stuff, 7NEWS reported.
Boulder Valley is also considering that option.
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- January 7, 2003: Denver Parks Playing Fields Closed Till March
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