Follow progress of the installation of new RealGrass turf at Bowers Stadium
5/14/2007 1:00:00 AM | Football
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| June 27, 2007 | June 25, 2007 |
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June 25, 2007 |
June 14, 2007 |
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| June 11, 2007 - New turf laid | |
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June 6, 2007 - Rubber base laid |
May 21, 2007 -- Old turf removed |
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May 14, 2007 -- Work Begins |
May 14, 2007
Installation began Monday morning for the new artificial playing surface at Bowers Stadium.
The Bowers Stadium playing surface renovation has been awarded to Hellas Construction for installation of RealGrass turf.According to the company's Web site, RealGrass is an artificial surface designed to mimic natural grass in appearance, feel, energy absorption and slide characteristics. RealGrass is the same surface used by the Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium.
“The university helped us with (the new surface) because it is a big capital expense,” SHSU athletic director Bobby Williams said. “We have been trying to get to this point for the past three years because the old turf was wearing out. We looked at several aspects when deciding on what we were going to go with. Pricing and how the new surface looked and felt was part of it, and (RealGrass) was a good fit.”
The installation contract was awarded to Hellas Construction out of Austin. The work crews showed up Monday and began ripping up the old turf.
Once that is finished, the workers will patch up any blemishes on the asphalt foundation beneath the field before installing the new artificial surface. Williams said the entire process should be completed by August 1, just in time for football season.
“They showed up today and went straight to work,” Williams said. “Once they peel off the old turf, they have to peel off the pad underneath. Then they will see if there is any base work that has to be done because there is an asphalt base on the bottom. If there isn't any patching to be done then that could speed up the process.
“But it should be done by August 1. They said it would probably take 60 days so it could be finished by mid July.”
The new surface isn't the only upgrade taking place. The locker rooms in the fieldhouse have also seen some work. Both the men's and women's track and field teams now have new locker rooms and an equipment room.
The football players got new carpet and a paint job to their locker room last summer and will get new lockers before the start of the season.
“We created new locker rooms for the track teams, and last year we rearranged the lockers, put in new carpet and painted the football locker room,” Williams said. “We have raised money for new lockers for football and plan to have those installed before the season.
“We have also enhanced the learning center, and the old weightroom is going to be turned into a meeting room. We also need to do some work on the (track and field) pits, so hopefully we can take care of that now with the new surface.”
Once everything is completed at Bowers, Williams said they will begin to look into facility upgrades at Johnson Coliseum.
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