In 2006 CU began construction on a referendum passed by students to upgrade existing recreation fields. One of those fields was the Kittredge Field Complex. Kittredge Field consisted of three total fields, one competition field and two practice fields. These fields were heavily used by students and maintenance was tough to keep up with. It was decided that FieldTurf would be installed along with lights to be able to maximize play on this field.
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| The center of each field was mostly compacted dirt. |
We knew that the installation of FieldTurf would lower maintenance costs on this field significantly. The composition is basically made up of monofilament fibers with a rubber/sand infill. One thing we didn't think about were the edges of the competition field. Once the field was installed, three sets of bleachers were added to the west edge.
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| West edge of the competition field. |
As you could guess, players and spectators and general users began to use these bleachers heavily. We tried our best to keep grass in here through heavy cultural practices of slit-seeding, aerating, broadcast seeding, and even re-sodding some spots. The picture to the left shows some remnants of our slit-seeding approximately one year after completion. You can also see that the bleachers were just placed on the ground, leaving turf underneath to be dealt with and also unstable ground for the bleachers to set on.
It was decided that improvements were needed. It was determined that concrete pads would be poured for the bleachers to set on, thus eliminating turf underneath and the unstable and unlevel ground. This also enabled us to move the bleachers a bit further back from the play field. Once the pads were poured this left us with the muddy mess to still deal with in front of the bleachers. This area was becoming increasingly worse.
Finally, it was decided that FieldTurf would be installed to eliminate the mudholes in front of the bleachers. The same installation methods were used as when the initial field was installed. This also eliminated a rough edge just outside of the play field which was becoming a safety issue as well. This area felt like concrete when it was dry dirt.
