Husson University in Bangor is planning to replace its FieldTurf surface at the Winkin Sports Complex.
Husson’s football, baseball and field hockey teams use the facility, where the artificial turf was installed in 2002 with a warranty of 10 years.
Frank Pergolizzi, Husson’s athletic director, said it will cost more than $1 million and it will come out of the university’s reserves fund.
He said that the university has had a few years to prepare for the overhaul.
Husson has received bids and expects to select a vendor soon. The hope is that the company can begin installing the new turf after the conclusion of the 2016 baseball season.
“It’s a six- to eight-week process,” said Pergolizzi, noting that it will be ready in plenty of time for the first football practice in August.
He said that G-max (impact) testing was conducted to assess the “resiliency of the field” and reported that the scores “weren’t as good as a brand-new field but the surface was still well within the acceptable range.”
But he said it was definitely time to replace it.
“You can tell because if you walked on the field, your feet would be covered with green stuff. That indicates that the fibers are disintegrating,” said Pergolizzi.
He said they intend to remove the crushed-stone compound from the warning track and they will put a shock pad underneath the new surface.
“The shock pad affects both the resiliency of the field, and it also aids drainage tremendously,” said Pergolizzi.
He said in discussing the current setup with representatives from the Woodard and Curran engineering firm, they discovered issues with drainage.
“The drainage ends where the [baseball] warning track is,” Pergolizzi said.
“They also told me the drainage pipe isn’t as wide as it should be and that it will have to be replaced,” he added.
Pergolizzi said the new turf project will enable Husson to focus its maintenance efforts on the John P. Boucher Soccer Field, which was converted to FieldTurf in 2007.
He said the rubber pellets used as the infill, which acts as a cushion, can be recycled and that they are looking into it. That would save money and avoid adding the pellets to a landfill.
Football coach Gabby Price and baseball coach and assistant athletic director for facilities Jason Harvey are excited about the new surface.
“[The old turf] has served its purpose tremendously. It made it possible to play three sports on one field. But the time is right to replace it,” said Price.
“How can you not be excited?,” posed Harvey. “They aren’t going to have to sweep rocks [from the warning track] off the field.”
The Winkin Sports Complex will be an all-turf facility with a warning track that will be a different color than the field to help players gauge proximity to the fence.
Harvey said Husson will use a portable turf pitcher’s mound that will replace the mound they have built each year after the football season.