CC at Play has given careful consideration to the design of the fields renovation project and the products that will be used.   This includes natural grass on the baseball and softball fields and synthetic turf on Memorial Field.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Synthetic Turf offers numerous benefits including:

• Fewer injuries. Durability and an even playing surface mean fewer injuries.  Grass gets torn up by rough play, bad weather or both and it eventually turns into vast patches of slippery mud (see photos to the right).  Synthetic turf, the other hand, remains consistent, making play on it predictable and safer. Synthetic turf also has better shock attenuation than natural grass.  This is especially important for impact sports like football, lacrosse and soccer, all of which currently play or seek to play on Memorial Field.
  
  In February 2015, Wesleyan University reported that they have seen "a significant reduction in reported concussions" since installing their synthetic turf field two years ago.

• Lower maintenance costs.   There's no need to mow synthetic turf, which in the growing season, can be as often as 2 to 3 times a week.  This saves on fuel and labor costs.
  
  Natural grass needs continual repair and replacement to keep the surface playable.  Bad weather, be it rainy, hot or overly dry, damages the surface requiring extra maintenance.  High impact play, particularly on a field that is subject to bad weather, causes even more damage.  A natural grass fields under the same conditions as a synthetic turf field only last about one-third as long.

• Pesticide and Fertilizer free. Unlike natural grass, artificial turf doesn't require treatment with pesticides and fertilizers.  Even organic fertilizers have issues, including the smell and a much greater amount time needed for them to be effective.

• Increased playability.   Synthetic turf fields are much more durable than grass, and because playability is much higher, they provide much-needed capacity that our existing inventory of fields cannot meet.   
  
  Playing field space is at capacity in Concord and Carlisle. Adding a synthetic  turf field will give sports organizations practice space they might otherwise not have.  New England weather, especially this year with the excessive amount of snow, makes natural grass fields unusable for many months.  Access to a synthetic playing field in the early spring and late fall can be the difference between playing or not playing (see photo to right).

• Saves water. An average grass playing field uses about 100,000 gallons of water per week.  That's over 2 million gallons during the growing season and millions and millions of gallons over the life of the field.

 

Turf Safety

 

Many of us saw an NBC news story that raised questions about the safety of synthetic  turf fields. While the report broadcast on TV was fairly one-sided, the more expansive written article was more balanced, specifically stating no evidence has been found linking synthetic fields with cancer.   You can read the NBC report here.    Citing scientific studies spanning a decade, Spinturf recently refuted the NBC story and demanded a retraction.

 

A number of other organizations issued responses including The Synthetic Turf Council, American Sports Builders Association, Field Sports  and the Connecticut Department of Public Health.  All reaffirm the safety of synthetic turf citing scientific, peer-reviewed studies.

 

Massachusetts Department of Public Health, at the request of two local towns, Needham and Medway, conducted a thorough review of scientific studies and literature on sythetic turf.  They concluded that exposure to synthetuc turf through play presents no additional health risk.  Their full report is available here.

 

All turf fields are not created equal.  Gale Associates has developed our detailed specification for synthetic turf which is based on the highest standards for human health and drinking water including a requirement that there be zero lead content in the installed product.  

We have a good track record with the many synthetic turf installations we already have in Concord.   We are confident that synthetic turf on Memorial Field will be equally successful and will benefit thousands of athletes and fans for many years to come.