CP: Installing Grass at Skydome a Problem

[Winnipeg Fury]

Installing soccer grass field at SkyDome a logistical challenge

posted May 20 @ 16:46, EST

TORONTO (CP) - Twelve hours, 60 workers and 33 tractor-trailor loads of sod.

Installing a natural grass field at SkyDome for a pair of international soccer friendlies July 30 and 31 will be a logistical wonder - and a race against time. The Blue Jays are scheduled to host the New York Yankees in an evening baseball game July 28, leaving a tiny window for Clark Companies, the U.S. outfit entrusted with making the dome's playing surface palatable to soccer giants Porto, Celtic, Liverpool and AS Roma.

The games are part of promoter ChampionsWorld's summer soccer tour of North America.

"We've only got about 12 hours. We're going to get the field partially turned over to us at 3 a.m. the night before the game and it's going to be a race to the finish," said Scott Clark, president of Clark Companies of Delhi, N.Y.

The sod will be brought to the dome in sections that measure nine to 12 metres in length, 1.2 metres wide and 3.8 to five centimetres thick.

In all, that's some 2,800 rolls of sod that will have to be installed, groomed and painted.

"It's going to be a bit of craziness," Clark admitted.

Clark's company is no stranger to laying grass fields, but SkyDome represents a unique challenge in that the temporary grass surface will be on concrete rather than an artificial surface.

That means each portion of sod has to be heavier - 2½ times thicker than normal - to provide the weight needed to anchor the surface. At the edges of the field, some form of restraint will be used to tether the end pieces.

"We haven't exactly decided the method we're going to use yet, to tell you the truth, because it's the first time on concrete," Clark said Thursday after a news conference to publicize the games. "We're doing several test pads right now. We'll have it worked out by the time we get here."

Clark is also scouting sod farms in Canada, looking for a suitable source of grass. He expects to have several possible sites as a hedge against rain, disease or other problems.

"There's no way to make it better when it gets here, so it's got to be perfect when it gets on the truck."

The domed stadium has been home to soccer before. It housed the SkyDome Cup in 1995, a three-team tournament featuring Canada, Denmark and Portugal played on artificial turf. The visitors were not impressed by the surface.

This marks the first time grass will be laid at SkyDome.

The good news is that Clark's company is no stranger to green challenges.

At the 1994 World Cup, at the Pontiac Silverdome, Clark's company had to deal with a grass field that had to be inside for a month with no sunlight.

For last year's version of the ChampionsWorld soccer tour, it had to install a temporary grass surface atop the brand new artificial FieldTurf surface at Giants Stadium in New Jersey.

There was concern that the FieldTurf surface might be harmed, so a vinyl liner was put down in the outdoor stadium. That introduced a host of possible water-related problems

"You think about putting sod on vinyl. The minute it rains, it's just going to turn to slime, it's going to be a bathtub," Clark said. "And there, we were leaving it in for quite a while. So you really had to manage the water. You couldn't let any rain get on it and you had to water it to keep it alive and not turn it to soup.

"It was a way bigger challenge than here when we have a roof."

Still the race against the clock adds special spice to the SkyDome project.

"It is clearly the most challenging time-wise," Clark said. "Nobody's ever thought about doing a field in this kind of time frame before. The time is almost non-existent."

Also competing in the 2004 ChampionsWorld series are Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Galatasaray, Manchester United and AC Milan. The other venues are Chicago, East Hartford, East Rutherford, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Seattle.

The series opens July 24 with Chelsea taking on Celtic in Seattle and concludes Aug. 3 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, with Roma playing Liverpool.

Organizers say the Roma-Celtic game July 31 is almost sold out. Tickets for the July 30 Liverpool-Porto game go on sale Friday.

Capacity for soccer at SkyDome is around 50,000.

The 2003 ChampionsWorld Series drew 420,000 fans to eight games in seven U.S. cities. Teams that took part were Barcelona, Boca Juniors, Celtic, Club America, Juventus, Manchester United and AC Milan.

Organizers promised the series will be back in Toronto next year, when national teams may be part of the mix.

[Jarrek]

Organizers promised the series will be back in Toronto next year, when national teams may be part of the mix.

Hopefully one of those teams will be Canada. The CSA should watch these developments closely. If the CSA schedules a game versus England or Italy, no doubt in my mind that it will sell out

[ray]

quote:Originally posted by Jarrek

Organizers promised the series will be back in Toronto next year, when national teams may be part of the mix.

Hopefully one of those teams will be Canada. The CSA should watch these developments closely. If the CSA schedules a game versus England or Italy, no doubt in my mind that it will sell out

Couldn't have said it better myself. If something like this does take place next year and the MNT is not involved, heads should roll.

[CanadianSoccerFan]

It will sell out but nobody will be cheering for Canada

[Gian-Luca]

quote:Originally posted by CanadianSoccerFan

It will sell out but nobody will be cheering for Canada

You underestimate us.

[Jarrek]

quote:It will sell out but nobody will be cheering for Canada

I know I will.

[leekoo]

it will be CANADA UBER ALLES ...

BET ON IT ...

by the way ...

the new varsity stadium announced today will be contingent upon us hosting the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup ...

that FIFA decision is scheduled for October 2004 ...

wonder who the other bidders are ...

if we successfully move past the contingency the stadium will be available for 2006 ...